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Dangerous Characters. 



BY 



ELLA RODMAN CHURCH, 

Author of "Birds and their Ways," "Flyers and Crawlers,' 
" Flower-Talks at Elmridge," "Among the Trees/' etc. 




PHILADELPHIA : 

PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION 

AND SABBATH-SCHOOL WORK, 

1334 CHESTNUT STREET. 






COPYRIGHT, 188 9, BY 

THE TRUSTEES OF THE 

PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION 
AND SABBATH-SCHOOL WORK. 



ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 



/2-3/Y0 



7 



Westcott & Thomson, 
Siereotypers and Electrotypers, Philada. 



PREFACE. 



A new Elmridge book needs no further 
introduction than the simple announcement 
that it proceeds on the same line with those 
which have preceded it. It is not a scientific 
work on natural history: it professes to 
be only a series of pleasant conversations 
regarding- an i ma l s } n which are given in a 
bright, familiar way many interesting facts 
about the nature and the habits of those an- 
imals. Young people cannot read the book 
without acquiring much valuable information. 
That such knowledge as is here imparted is 
important no one will dispute. Young peo- 
ple should early be taught to see the wisdom 
of God as it is manifested in his wonderful 
works, instead of being allowed to hear, 
first of all, the atheistical teaching that 
science finds no place for God in his works. 

Editor. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. page 

Old Friends and New 9 

CHAPTER II. 
A Cousin of the Dog • • 31 

CHAPTER III. 
Some Wolf- Stories 58 

CHAPTER IV. 
About Bears 82 

CHAPTER V. 
Some Bear-Hunts 108 

CHAPTER VI. 
A Savage Beast 134 

CHAPTER VII. 
An American Lion 158 

CHAPTER VIII. 
A Savage Pet, and a South American Cousin . . .172 

CHAPTER IX. 

The King of the Forest 194 

5 



6 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER X. page 

The Lion at Home 208 

CHAPTER XI. 
Stories about Lions 225 

CHAPTER XII. 
The Lion in the Bible 247 

CHAPTER XIII. 
Very Dangerous Characters 264 

CHAPTER XIV. 
Habits and Ways 280 

CHAPTER XV. 
A Spotted Tiger 300 

CHAPTER XVI. 
Harmless Giants 324 

CHAPTER XVII. 
Neither Pretty nor Good 340 

CHAPTER XVIII. 
Distant Relations 7 356 

CHAPTER XIX. 
Very Queer Creatures 374 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PAGE 

Chimpanzees 13 

Bear-Pits 29 

Wolves 33 

The Syrian Wolf 35 

Wolf and Deer 41 

Wolf Carrying Off Sheep 46 

Josephine and the Wolf 55 

Defending his Master 65 

The Frightened Wolf 71 

The Black Bear 85 

Bear Eating Berries 89 

A Narrow Escape 95 

The Bear and the Bonnet 103 

Protecting her Cubs in 

Sam and the Bear 123 

The Grizzly Bear 135 

A Terrible Enemy 145 

Syrian Bear 152 

Panthers 159 

Jaguar Catching Fish 185 

The King of Beasts . 196 

7 



8 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGE 

Lion and Deer . . 203 

A Dinner for Mrs. Lion 213 

Daniel and the Lions 253 

The Disobedient Prophet 262 

Savage Specimens 267 

Tiger and Trap 275 

Tiger-Hunting 281 

Attacked by Bees 291 

The Leopard 303 

Leopard and Baboons 309 

The Giraffe 326 

The Hyena 342 

A Nightly Raid 351 

Tailpiece 355 

Monkeys 359 

Teasing a Crocodile 361 

The Gorilla 377 

Monkeys and Parrots 381 

Jocko 383 



Dangerous Characters. 



CHAPTER I. 

OLD FRIENDS AND NEW. 

ONE day, not very long after the talks 
about useful animals were finished, 
there was a great commotion at Elmridge, 
and for a short time the youngest members 
of the family seemed to have lost their 
heads. In fact, Malcolm stood on his head 
for the space of a second or so, while his 
sisters jumped up and down and danced 
around in a small ring with fast-locked 
hands. Miss Harson sat in a garden-chair, 
laughing*. 

This all happened on and near the 
veranda — for it was early June — and Mal- 
colm had retired behind a tall bush on the 
lawn to turn his somersault. His gover- 

9 



IO DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

ness seemed to know, however, just what 
he had been doincr for she informed him 
that heads were not meant to stand on, 
and that if they were so completely turned 
at the thought of going to see some wild an- 
imals, it might prove dangerous to indulge 
in the reality. But she did not look at all 
severe while she was saying this, and the 
children felt perfectly assured that their 
trip to New York was a settled thing. 

So it was, for papa had consented imme- 
diately, and had thought the plan an excel- 
lent one when Miss Harson proposed tak- 
ing the little party to see the animals at 
Central Park. The children were wild over 
it, because they had never been there, for it 
was quite an undertaking to go and return 
all in one day, and staying away from home 
at night was not to be thought of. 

First, Thomas drove the party in the car- 
riage to the railroad-station ; then the cars 
took them to a ferry, which they crossed ; 
and next they were in the horse-car going 
up to Central Park. All seemed new and 
strange, and the little travelers were con- 
stantly giving expression to their surprise. 



OLD FRIENDS AND NEW. II 

But when, after walking a short distance 
from the car, they saw before them tall 
buildings covered with masses of beautiful 
green vines, and began mounting, in com- 
pany with a number of other people, some 
low, easy stone steps leading from one ter- 
race to another, they felt quite excited. 

Little Edith looked around rather timidly, 
almost expecting to see various animals 
roaming about ready to make a rush on 
them ; but presently Miss Harson led them 
into an open building from which a great 
deal of noise was proceeding ; and there, in 
a huge cage like a platform, a queer-looking 
monkey was bouncing up and down on a 
seesaw and flincrin£ Indian clubs over his 
own head. He was desperately solemn 
about it, and acted as though it had been 
necessary work rather than play. A crowd 
of people were laughing heartily over his 
antics, and the name on the outside of his 
residence was " Chimpanzee. " It was very 
funny to see him dodge the clubs which he 
threw himself, and he was not still for a 
second. 

Every one was so busy with this noisy 



12 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

performance that some very comical-look- 
ing monkeys on the other side of the room 
were almost unnoticed. But Miss Harson 
directed the children's attention to a ca^e 
where two little creatures with wrinkled old 
faces and small gray hands folded one over 
the other sat staring very seriously at them; 
and when Clara exclaimed, " Oh, you cun- 
ning little things !" they glanced at each 
other, as though they were saying, "Are'n't 
they queer ?" Others were climbing up 
the bars of their cages and dropping down 
again, while, in a cage by himself, one queer 
little object with a black face fringed all 
around with white hair was eating an apple 
in perfect contentment. 

Malcolm seemed unable to take his eyes 
off the chimpanzee, but presently the little 
girls and their governess had their well- 
cologned handkerchiefs up to their noses, 
and Edith complained that " the room didn't 
smell good." 

"We will go into the outer air now," 
said Miss Harson, "and I shall see if you 
will recognize some old friends. " 

There, in an enclosure, were several dark- 




CHIMPANZEES. 



14 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

gray moving masses, which Clara declared 
looked like hills as much as possible, only 
they were not big enough. It was very 
easy to guess that they were elephants. 

" I think they're too big," said Edith, 
hanging back and tightly grasping her be- 
loved Miss Harson. "I'd rather see 'em 
in pictures." 

" Pooh !" exclaimed Malcolm, with a 
flourish ; " they don't want little girls when 
they can get such nice grass. Just look at 
that trunk going out there, will you ?" 

The children could distinctly see the cun- 
ning little finger which picked up a bunch 
of grass so neatly and waved it to and fro 
to get rid of any dirt and dead stalks that 
might be mixed up with it, and then they 
watched with great interest the ease with 
which the animal got it into its mouth. 
They were wonderfully busy elephants, and 
they appeared to have no time to notice the 
spectators who were leaning over the fence. 
There were seven elephants altogether, and 
one of them was quite a baby ; but Miss 
Harson said that they were all under-sized 
and not at all good specimens of the noble 



OLD FRIENDS AND NEW. 1 5 

animal which she and the children had last 
studied. 

"Why, only one of 'em has tusks," said 
Clara, in surprise, "and they've got brass 
balls on the end, like some cows' horns." 

" I see some little tusks," added Edith. 
11 See, Miss Harson ; they're just growing." 

11 No, dear," was the reply ; " I am sorry 
to say that they have been sawed off. But 
I suppose that this was necessary to keep 
the elephants from doing mischief with 
them. Do you notice their very small 
eyes ? 

These were not only tiny for so large an 
animal, but very dull-looking; and, take 
them altogether, the little Kyles did not 
think that elephants could be called pretty. 
Malcolm picked out a pair of flapping ears 
as belonging to an African, while Clara 
recognized the receding head of an Asiatic. 
The queer lumps of feet were there, and 
each animal had an iron chain fastened to 
one of his feet. 

Clara tried to open a sociable conversa- 
tion with the largest elephant, but all he did 
as his share of it was to gaze inquiringly at 



1 6 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

her between his mouthfuls of grass, as 
though he wondered if she were trying 
to get it away from him. Then he waved 
his trunk to and fro, and appeared to be 
saying, " Go away, do, and leave me in 
peace !" 

The young lady from Eimridge was much 
disgusted, and the rest of the party were 
quite ready to go in search of some other 
animal- acquaintances. 

" Oh, Miss Harson," exclaimed Edith, in 
great excitement, " do see there ! Camels ! 
And they're coming right at us ! Oh !" 

The little girl was disposed to run away, 
but Miss Harson soon calmed her with the 
assurance that the camels coukl not possibly 
get out of the enclosure, although it was so 
open. 

" They're not nice at all," said Clara as 
she surveyed them with great curiosity. 
"And what do they have those pieces of 
old mats on their backs and sides for? To 
keep 'em warm ?" 

Her governess laughed as she replied, 

" Those ' mats ' are of their own raising, 
and are really portions of their coat, which 



OLD FRIENDS AND NEW. 1 7 

they are shedding now in patches. See 
how smooth and glossy it is between the 
pieces that still hang on. They look now 
as if they were wearing tattered clothes ; 
but when the patches are all off, they will 
be very much improved in appearance/' 

" They look just like the camels in the 
books except that," said Malcolm. "And 
just see this great white fellow coming 
out of the door of his shed and trotting 
up to us ! Isn't he funny ?" 

He was larger than any of the others, 
and the expression of his front face was 
very queer. He seemed to hold his nose 
in the air and sniff in a scornful sort of 
fashion, as though he had a poor opinion 
indeed of his visitors. His color was a 
somewhat dirty white, and his broad feet 
were spread open to the greatest advan- 
tage. Having stood and stared at the little 
party for about a minute, he ambled off 
again, as though the visitors were not 
w r orth wasting any more time over. 

"There's a funny one with two high 
points on his back," said Clara, referring 
to a dark-brown camel in another enclosure. 



1 8 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

"They are not ' points,' dear," replied Miss 
Harson, "but narrow humps. Do you not 
recognize an old acquaintance from Bac- 
tria r 

Oh, of course, now that the children had 
been reminded of it ! Bactrian camels al- 
ways had two humps. And what was it 
about dromedaries? Did not they have 
two humps ? 

" No," said their governess, smiling ; " you 
are like the other people of whom natural- 
ists say that they will give the dromedary 
two humps. But don't you remember my 
telling you that dromedaries were like car- 
riage-horses or riding-horses among ordi- 
nary camels ? The only difference is that 
the dromedary is a superior animal. There 
is one now, with that light-brown coat, and 
you can see that he is not so clumsy-look- 
ing as are his companions." 

The children were resolved not to forget 
this next time as they stood watching the 
queerly-shaped animals with such long legs 
and such small heads. They too were eat- 
ing grass, but they did not seem to be quite 
so much absorbed in this occupation as were 



OLD FRIENDS AND NEW. 1 9 

the elephants, and they looked very much 
as though they were watching their visitors 
to see what they would do next. 

There were a number of beautiful foreign 
birds in the aviary, including gorgeous par- 
rots in red and green and yellow, while in 
an enclosure that contained a small pond 
were to be seen strange-looking ducks and 
cormorants and adjutants. The little Kyles 
at once recognized their feathered friends, 
but they did not find them so interesting as 
the animals, and they spent very little time 
over them. 

" Oh, look, look!" exclaimed Edith, in 
great excitement, as they suddenly turned 
a corner. "The dear little deer!" 

It was a very pretty specimen of the fal- 
low-deer that seemed to tiptoe up to them 
and put its nose through the open fence, 
and the children were delighted with its 
light-brown .coat spotted with white, its 
gracefully- branching antlers, soft, dark eyes 
and daintily-finished nose and mouth. It 
appeared to have walked up to the party 
to be petted, and probably with the expec- 
tation of getting something to eat, for pres- 



20 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

ently, while Miss Harson's hand, with a soft, 
fine handkerchief in it, was gently patting its 
pretty head, it made a sudden snatch at a 
corner of the handkerchief with its teeth, 
and tore a piece quite out of it. This it 
munched and swallowed with great appar- 
ent satisfaction, and stood there as though 
hoping that more handkerchief would be 
offered. No one could help laughing at 
this saucy but comical performance, though 
Malcolm, who considered himself the guard- 
ian and protector of the party, was quite 
concerned at the danger to Miss Harson's 
fingers. 

" He is a more sensible animal/' replied 
the young lady, laughing, " than to munch 
fingers when he can get a handkerchief, and 
I should certainly give him the rest of it 
were it not such indigestible food." 

He was not a bit bashful, and stayed 
there close to the fence while one after an- 
other stroked him, although his companions 
were taking a lunch of grass in the back- 
ground. But he was the beauty, and evi- 
dently the petted one, of the party, and he 
plainly preferred entertaining the visitors. 



OLD FRIENDS AND NEW. 21 

" How queer his horns are !" exclaimed 
Clara, presently — " a sort of pinkish white. 
And they look so soft !" 

" I was hoping/' said her governess, "that, 
as we have so lately studied about deer, you 
would be able to tell me why these antlers 
have that strange appearance. — What do 
you think, Malcolm ?" 

"They look like velvet," was the half-hes- 
itating reply, "and is it not because — be- 
cause the horns are new?" 

" Yes. As I have told you, deer shed their 
antlers once a year, and it takes the new 
ones some time, after they are grown, to 
harden. This pink look is produced by the 
circulation of the blood through the still-soft 
substance ; and if the antlers are wounded 
while in this condition, they will bleed pro- 
fusely. Just now they are quite inoffensive 
weapons ; but when these graceful append- 
ages have become fully hardened, I should 
not care to have this pretty animal for a 
pet." 

" He has not got any mats spread over 
his back," said Edith, who was eying the 
beautiful creature at a somewhat respect- 



22 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

ful distance, " and that is why he looks so 
nice and clean." 

" No," replied Miss Harson ; " he has 
lately appeared in all the beauty of a new 
coat, and it is certainly a very handsome 
one." 

" But it is cut off so suddenly behind," 
said Clara — "just as if there hadn't been 
enough cloth for it. He'd look a great deal 
nicer if he had a decent tail." 

" These beautiful animals all fail in that 
particular," said her governess, " but some 
that we shall see presently are abundantly 
supplied." 

In one of the open cages which they 
passed Edith immediately spied, curled up 
in one of the front corners, fast-asleep, what 
she innocently called " the loveliest little cat 
she ever saw." It was like a very handsome 
tortoise-shell variety, and the beautiful fur 
was wondrously soft and glossy. 

"What is it doing- there ?" said Malcolm. 
" Poor pretty little pussy ! it ought to be 
running about." 

"There is no name over this cage," said 
Miss Harson — "an omission that is fre- 



OLD FRIENDS AND NEW. 23 

quently found in this Central Park menag- 
erie — but I am quite sure that your beauti- 
ful pussy is not so innocent as she looks. 
She is either a young wild-cat or panther, 
and, pretty as she is, I, for one, should not 
enjoy having her at large. But here is an- 
other building, where we may safely obtain 
a view of our delightful friends the lions and 
the tigers. " 

Quite a number of people were gazing 
at these savage animals, which seemed won- 
derfully quiet and stupid, with the exception 
of one pair of tigers that continually paced 
up and down their cage. 

" How horribly they do smell !" said Clara 
as she buried her nose and her mouth in a 
dainty handkerchief. "J should think it 
would make 'em all sick. ,, 

" They're used to it, dear," was the smil- 
ing reply. " But we need not stay here any 
longer than you like. Look carefully at 
these magnificent animals, for we shall soon 
be studying their habits, and you will wish 
to remember what they look like." 

"I'm afraid of 'em/' said Edith, gazing at 
the restless tigers, which seemed to have a 



24 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

sort of fascination for her. " Cannot they 
get out if they try?" 

" No, dear," replied the young lady, with 
a comforting caress ; " I do not think they 
will try, for they are accustomed to live in 
cages, and probably some of them were 
born there. But let us look at these lions, 
which seem quiet enough." 

There were two pair of each, and Malcolm 
was already holding a conversation with a 
sleepy-looking lion whose thick, flowing 
mane gave him a very dignified air. The 
lioness — whom the children pronounced a 
very homely animal — was stretched out 
asleep in a far corner of the cage. The 
master of the house opened and shut his 
yellow-brown eyes quite intelligently as the 
young gentleman in knickerbockers ad- 
dressed various soothing remarks to him ; 
and when he finally said, " I wish I could 
have you for my own great beautiful dog," 
he opened his mouth very wide, and Mal- 
colm drew back rather frightened. 

U I do not think he means any harm," said 
Miss Harson, " as that was only gaping and 
he seems trying to wake himself up ; but I 



OLD FRIENDS AND NEW. 2$ 

shall feel more easy if you do not go quite 
so close to the cages. They are very open, 
and it would not be at all difficult for the 
beast to thrust one of those great paws 
through for some rather serious scratching." 

It was amusing to see how carefully the 
little girls gathered themselves together, 
keeping their frocks and sashes and para- 
sols well out of the reach of the savage 
prisoners, while Malcolm declared quite 
airily that he had nothing for the animal to 
take hold of; yet, out of respect for his 
beloved Miss Harson, he did not go so near 
the bars again. 

"This lion hasn't so much hair as the 
other one," said he; "what's the reason of 
that, I wonder?" 

" He is probably young," was the reply, 
"while your first acquaintance is a sort of 
patriarch. You see, too, that this one is 
more active, and not sleepy like the other. 
Even the lioness in the corner has her eyes 
open, although she does not move." 

"What color are lions, Miss Harson?" 
asked Clara. " It isn't exactly brown, and 
they are not quite yellow/' 



26 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

" That peculiar shade is called * tawny/ ' 
said her governess, "but you will notice 
that it is lighter or darker in some places. 
Some lions are black, or nearly so ; but 
none of the animals here are at all fine 
specimens. They look very thin, as though 
they did not get enough food, and the cages 
are far from clean." 

" They wouldn't think they had come 
to a Christian country if they knew any- 
thing about it, would they ?" asked Edith 
earnestly. 

" No, dear, I am afraid not," replied Miss 
Harson ; " and there is great carelessness 
somewhere. That poor tiger, villainous as 
he looks, is quite a piteous sight ; he is so 
thin that the shape of the bones is plainly 
seen through his beautifully-marked coat." 

" He is a handsome fellow," observed 
Malcolm. " Just look at the brown and 
black and gold rings around his body! I 
suppose that is why people think so much 
of tiger-skins for rugs." 

" Yes, that and the difficulty of getting 
them. But we shall come to all this by 
and by. I wish now that the lions and the 



OLD FRIENDS AND NEW. 2J 

tigers would be obliging enough to open 
their mouths for some minutes, that you 
might see their peculiar tongues. But we 
can scarcely expect this, and we shall get a 
good idea of them from the descriptions 
that have been written. The lion, you 
see, has a long tail with a bunch or tassel 
at the end, like a cow's, and the quick 
movements of this tail are a sure si^n that 
he is lashing himself into a fury. The tiger, 
too, is well provided for in length of tail, but 
it tapers off like a cat's, without a tassel at 
the end." 

"What is that rope across the end of 
the room for?" asked Clara, who had just 
spied a place that was thus shut off from 
too curious visitors. 

"That is to keep people from annoying 
the rhinoceros, a new arrival who has not 
yet become accustomed to his strange 
quarters. But we can look at him through 
the grated window on the outside of the 
building." 

Poor animal ! he appeared like a great 
brown mass very much the color of the 
earth on which he was lying, and he was 



28 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

perfectly motionless except an occasional 
twitching of the upright ears. The horn 
on his nose had been sawed off, and the 
skin around it was bruised and bleeding. 

" He may have done that himself/' said 
Miss Harson, as the children tenderly 
pitied the ugly rhinoceros, " by beating 
his head against the bars, but I am afraid 
that he has not been kindly handled. Such 
a huge animal is difficult to handle at all, 
and his one horn is such a powerful weapon 
— he can cut almost any enemy open with 
it — that it is necessary to deprive him of it 
if he is to be safely kept. But he is not a 
pleasant sight to look upon, and, having 
noticed his color and his thick skin, we will 
go on to the bears. " 

Bears were delightful in all circumstances, 
and the party from Elmridge were soon 
standing near the "pit," as it is called, in 
company with a great many other people. 
Here they could see through the grating 
two brown bears playing among the rocks 
above, while below there was water, in 
which a great splashing was going on, and 
two yellowish-white objects were constantly 




BEAR-PITS. 



30 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

bobbing up and down. These were young 
polar bears, who suffered so from heat in a 
climate so different from their own that they 
had to be kept in water. 

The crowd was too great to see the bears 
to much advantage, and the children could 
get only a general idea of their appearance. 
But this was much better than nothing, al- 
though they could tell very little else about 
them but that they were fat and clumsy- 
looking. 

After paying another short visit to the 
elephants on their way out, Miss Harson 
and her charges left the Park feeling that 
they had had a day of great enjoyment. 
Yet every one exclaimed, on reaching home 
again, 

" How pleasant Elmridge looks V 



CHAPTER II. 

A COUSIN OF THE DOG. 

OUR talks for the present," said Miss 
Harson, from her throne on the 
veranda, "will be almost entirely of such 
wild animals as may be called dangerous 
characters — beasts of prey into whose 
haunts it is not safe to venture ; and it will 
be well to begin with such members of this 
unprepossessing class as are found on our 
own continent. Who can mention some of 
them?" 

" Bears," said Clara. 

44 Wolves," added Malcolm. 

44 1 don't know any wild animals," said 
Edith, mournfully. 

44 Never mind, dear," said her governess, 
kindly; 44 they are not at all desirable to 
know — in one way, at least — as we shall see 
when we come to learn more of their habits. 

31 



32 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

Suppose that we begin with wolves, of which, 
I am happy to say, there are not nearly so 
many as there used to be, although some 
are still found in Canada and in the West 
and South-west. They seem to thrive in 
every country and climate, though they are 
more associated with cold than with heat, 
and cold and hunger together make them 
terribly savage." 

"I'm glad we do not have any here," said 
Clara. 

" Miss Harson," asked Edith, " where did 
poor little Red Ridinghood live?" 

" In France, dear, where wolves used to 
be found in great numbers. They were 
also abundant in Germany and in all the 
northern countries of Europe, where their 
ferocity made them a perfect scourge both 
to people and animals." 

"What ugly-looking things they are!" 
said Malcolm as they were bending over a 
picture of wolves. "They have such sharp 
noses and such queer, slanting eyes !" 

"Why, they look like dogs," said Edie. 
" If I met a wolf when I was out walking, I 
should think it was a doo-." 



34 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

" But wolves do not walk around here," 
said her sister. " Do they, Miss Harson ?" 

" I have not heard of any within several 
hundred miles of where we are/' was the 
comforting reply. " But they certainly do 
resemble dogs, whose relations they are, 
having the same family-name of Canis, 
and sometimes the only difference to be 
seen is in the long, slanting eyes, which give 
such a wicked look to the face. There are 
varieties, too, of the wolf, differing as dogs 
differ. The red wolf — which is really a 
reddish-brown — is found in Siberia ; the 
Abyssinian wolf, in Africa ; another species, 
in India ; still another, in the Arctic regions ; 
while in our own country are the prairie- 
wolf in the West, the little coyote of Cali- 
fornia and the American or Canadian wolf. 
The Syrian wolf is said to be larger and 
lighter in color than the members of the fam- 
ily found in Europe and America." 

" What color are our wolves, Miss Har- 
son ?" asked Clara. 

" I suppose, dear," replied her governess, 
smiling, " that by 'our wolves' you mean 
American wolves; but even in our country 



A COUSIN OF THE DOG. 



35 



the species and the color vary with the 
region in which they live. In Canada and 
other northern portions of the continent 
the color is gray, in the South it is black, 
but on the Missouri River white wolves are 
found. The prairie-wolf is of a dull yel- 
lowish-gray clouded with black, and the Iit- 




THE SYRIAN WOLF. 



tie coyote is brown. In northern countries 
this animal becomes white in winter." 

"That is funny," said little Edith, " for we 
wear our white dresses in summer." 

"But we don't have to avoid enemies 
who are seeking our lives, Edie, and the 



D 



6 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 



poor wolves do. When their color is very 
much the same as that of the snow and ice 
around them, they cannot be so easily seen. 
God always provides for the meanest and 
ugliest of the creatures he has made." 

"And does he really take care of such 
wicked animals as wolves?" asked Clara, in 
great wonder. 

" Yes, dear. They were created for 
God's own purposes, which we cannot ex- 
pect to fathom ; and when they were cre- 
ated they were provided with means for 
preserving the life which had been given. 
We shall find that what seem to us the most 
worthless and malicious creatures are thus 
protected by natural means of defence ; and 
the more we learn about them, the greater 
will be our wonder at the perfect fitness of 
these means to their end. As we examine 
our new acquaintance we see that it has 
very pointed ears as well as a pointed nose 
or muzzle, and that these ears stand up 
from the head. The oblique or slanting eyes 
give the animal a vicious expression, while 
the long legs are suggestive of its sham- 
bling gait. The wolf is not graceful, and not 



A COUSIN OF THE DOG, 37 

pleasant to look upon in any way, and its 
character is as bad as are its looks. It is cru- 
el, cowardly and voracious, and it goes in 
packs — not for the sake of companionship, 
but to secure food, for wolves have no affec- 
tion for one another. A wounded comrade 
is speedily devoured, but it is said that, un- 
less starving, nothing except a wolf will eat 
w r olf s flesh. This unprepossessing animal is 
described as offensive in every way, with * a 
savage aspect, a frightful howl, an insup- 
portable odor, a perverse disposition, fierce 
habits, hateful while living and useless when 
dead.' To do it justice, however, it is of 
some use, for the skin is made into carriage- 
and sleigh-robes. I believe, however, that 
nothing more can be said in its favor/' 

" Does the wolf bark as well as howl?" 
asked Malcolm ? 

" Yes ; it has a short, snapping bark — just 
enough of one to show its relationship to the 
dog. But its howl is something that, once 
heard, is not easily forgotten — a prolonged 
dismal sound that fills the lonely traveler 
with terror, for nothing can withstand the 
fury and perseverance of a pack of hun- 



38 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

gry wolves. In cold weather, when food is 
scarce, they hunt together in droves, and 
they are such crafty creatures that they are 
watchful for all sorts of wiles from the ani- 
mals they pursue; so that it is next to im- 
possible ever to escape them. No matter 
how large or how strong an animal may be, 
it has no chance against a pack of hungry 
wolves." 

" I suppose," said Clara, " that they have 
to kill animals to eat, or they would die 
themselves." 

" Yes," replied Miss Harson ; " they can- 
not go to the butcher's, as we do, for their 
meat, and they must get it as they can. 
Often, too, they are nearly starved before 
anything comes in their way^ and this is 
some excuse for their ferocity. When 
there is nothing to eat they retire to their 
caves nearly frantic with hunger, and a 
pack of them lie around there meditating 
what to do, when suddenly, perhaps, a 
sharp, loud growl from one of the party 
near the mouth of the cave rouses them, 
and all start up in eager expectation. That 
cry said as plainly as possible, * Something 



A COUSIN OF THE DOG. 39 

to eat!' and such welcome news made each 
famished wolf hurry to the cave's entrance 
to ascertain what it was. There, through 
the brushwood that covered their hole, they 
discovered a deer walking slowly along, ap- 
parently as yet unconscious of the enemies 
who were lurking so near. And yet no ; 
at this moment he has caught a scent that 
terrifies him, or heard a rustling that re- 
minds him of previous narrow escapes and 
fearful alarms, for he throws back his head 
and begins to run wildly about, as if in 
mortal terror. Ah, poor deer! your fate 
is sealed. The starving 1 wolves are on 
your track, and there is little chance of 
your being able to baffle them. So, indeed, 
the deer seems to think, or perhaps terror 
deprives him of all power of running away ; 
for in an amazingly short space of time the 
whole herd are upon him, some hanging on 
his flanks or gnawing* his legs, while the one 
that gave the alarm and led the attack has 
fixed his sharp fangs in his throat and is 
sucking his life's blood. Short work in- 
deed they make with the poor deer, whose 
bones might have been seen the next day 



40 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS, 

scattered hither and thither, as if to warn 
other deer not to venture near the fatal 
spot." 

11 They needn't kill the poor deer," said 
Edith, indignantly, " if they'd only behave 
themselves as dogs do, because then they'd 
have plenty to eat. Why can't they?" 

" Because, dear, it is not their nature ; 
they have been made different. They will 
not attack a reindeer when he is harnessed, 
even if he is quite alone, because they are 
afraid of the ropes and straps." 

"Why, I didn't suppose," said Malcolm, 
" that wolves were afraid of anything." 

"Yes," replied his governess, "I spoke 
of their cowardice only a little while ago ; 
and, cunning and ferocious as. they are, it 
is easy to frighten them. They are afraid 
of anything that looks like a trap, and they 
have been frightened away from dead ani- 
mals by so harmless a thing as a strip of 
cloth fluttering- in the breeze. Hunters 
often tie such a strip to the horn of a slain 
deer if they cannot take the animal away 
at once. An inflated bladder tied by a 
loose string to an upright stick will answer 






2 







,Wf^g^ 



42 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

the same purpose, and, although the wolves, 
attracted by the carcase — which they can 
scent over three miles away — will run 
around the tempting food all night, they 
do not dare to come close to it. They 
always follow in the track of hunters, 
who sometimes use only small portions 
of the animals they kill, and the wolves 
feast ravenously on the remainder/' 

"Why don't people do some of these 
things when wolves are after 'em?" asked 
Malcolm. "I mean tying a strip of cloth 
or a bladder w r here it will swing in the 
wind." 

" Probably it would not have the same 
effect in such a case, but travelers have 
been known to escape from one of these 
savage packs by letting a piece of cord 
trail behind their carriage. The wolves 
did not go near it, for fear of being caught, 
while the frightened people in the carriage 
were only anxious to get away from them 
as fast as possible. These animals seem 
to understand just what traps are intended 
for, and they are sometimes cunning enough 
to steal the bait and get off unhurt. If 



A COUSIN OF THE DOG. 43 

really caught, however, they give up and 
submit to being killed without making the 
least resistance, although one will some- 
times escape by pretending to be dead 
and allowing itself to be flung- out none 
too gently. Poisoned meat is often used 
for wolf's bait ; and when this is once 
touched, there is no escaping. Wolves 
are sometimes hunted with greyhounds, 
especially when a solitary wolf has made 
havoc among the sheep in a neighbor- 
hood, and then they are easily surrounded 
and attacked. A large price will often be 
paid for the head of so destructive an 
animal." 

11 1 shouldn't think any one would dare to 
go after it," said Clara. 

" People will dare to go after anything, 
Clara, to gain money or to save their prop- 
erty, but neither you nor I would fancy such 
an undertaking. The chase of the wolf 
is said to be very exciting, but tiresome, ' for, 
although it starts with a peculiar stumbling 
gallop and appears half wearied out, it keeps 
up this pace for such a length of time that 
it baffles the endurance of the best horses, 



44 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

much to the dismay of the inexperienced 
hunter, who finds that the apparently slow 
gallop is in reality very swift, and that after 
his horse is thoroughly tired out the wolf 
continues his provoking gallop just as if 
nothing had happened. When wolves run, 
they carry their head down, their nose to 
the ground, their tail held low against their 
leos, the hair of their head and neck stand- 
ing erect and their eyes flashing w r ith a furi- 
ous light.' " 

" Delightful-looking creatures!'' said Mal- 
colm. " I'd like to hunt and kill all there 
are of 'em in the world." 

"You would have plenty of work to do," 
replied Miss Harson, smiling. "And how 
if you should get hunted yourself?" 

" Oh, I'd have a piece of cord trailing be- 
hind me, and a rag fluttering on a stick tied 
to the horse's ear, and Edie's red balloon 
bobbing up into the air before me. I'm 
sure all that would keep the wolves off." 

" It is well to remember these things," 
said the young lady as they all laughed at 
this funny picture of Malcolm on horseback 
after wolves, "so that we can be prepared 



A COUSIN OF THE DOG. 45 

if the danger should come ; but there is cer- 
tainly no present probability that we shall 
be pursued by the savage animals. It is 
said that when once on their track their 
cunning and perseverance will tire out even 
the buffalo and the bear, while the fleet- 
footed deer cannot outrun a pack of hungry 
wolves, and even his dangerous antlers are 
no protection against these enemies, who 
rush furiously at his throat and the most 
exposed parts of his body, and make quick 
work of him with their short, snapping bite. 
It is only when they are desperately hungry 
that they will attack human beings, as they 
prefer to slink out of the way and feed on 
sheep and calves if they can get them. In 
the Pyrenees, where they abound, they will 
follow strings of mules going over the 
mountains and seize upon the hindmost. 
On our Western plains they creep stealthily 
after the herds of bison, and a straggler 
who turns aside for a little private grazing 
is sure to be pounced upon and reduced to 
a skeleton. 

"Settlers in new countries are usually 
much annoyed by wolves, who kill their 



46 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

sheep and cattle and frequently attack chil- 
dren. But there is an account here of a 
brave boy — younger than you, Malcolm — 
who escaped from a pack of them by his 




WOLF CARRYING OFF SHEEP. 



presence of mind, and I think it will do you 
all good to hear it. The gentleman who 
tells the story says : 

" 'A perilous adventure once befell my 
brother-in-law James. He was a bold, 
brave boy of ten years at the time, and was 
on his return home with a pair of oxen, 
with which he had been assisting a neigh- 



A COUSIN OF THE DOG. 47 

bor who resided about six miles from his 
father's house. His road lay by the river- 
shore, which was dreary enough in the fall 
of the year and at the evening-hour, but the 
child was fearless, and saw the deepening 
shades sink into night without experiencing 
anything like apprehension. 

" ' He was trudging on steadily, singing 
cheerfully as he walked, when on the night- 
air came a sound that sent a shiver through 
the young pedestrian's frame — the war-cry 
of the wolves. At first he hoped he was 
not the object of pursuit, but the hideous 
uproar came nearer and nearer, and then 
he knew that he must instantly adopt some 
plan for his escape. 

" ' His route lay by the river-shore and 
he could swim well, but the night was dark 
and he might be hurried into the rapids, and 
to be dashed to pieces on the rocks was 
scarcely less dreadful than to be mangled 
and devoured by wolves. In this extremity 
the child lifted up his brave young heart to 
God and resolved to use the only chance 
left him of escape; so he mounted Buck, 
the near-ox, making use of his goad, shout- 



48 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

ing at the same time to the animal to excite 
him to his utmost speed. In most cases the 
horned steed would have flung off his rider 
and left him for wolves' meat without hes- 
itation, but Buck set off with the speed of 
a racehorse, as if fully aware of his young 
rider s peril. Nor was his companion less 
swift. Fast, however, as the trio fled, still 
faster came on the yelling pack behind, and 
James could ever hear 

" Their long, hard gallop, which could tire 
The hound's deep hate and hunter's rlre." 

Fortunately for him, old Buck heard it too, 
and galloped on and on, but still the wolves 
came nearer and nearer. James shouted to 
keep them off, the oxen almost flying, their 
chains rattling as they went. 

" ' This clanking sound, to which the hate- 
ful pack were unaccustomed, made them 
pause whenever they came close upon the 
oxen, whilst the latter redoubled their speed, 
till at length these gallant racers left the 
wolves behind, and, finding themselves with- 
in a short distance of home, never stopped 
till they had brought the brave little fellow 



A COUSIN OF THE DOG. 49 

to his own door. He had felt afraid but 
once, and that was when those dismal yells 
first broke upon his ear, and he never lost 
his presence of mind. He trusted in God 
and used the means within his reach for 
preservation, and arrived safe at last. 

11 ' Few boys would have displayed so 
much sense and spirit; but the boy is al- 
most always the father of the man, and 
what James was then he is now." 1 

The little Kyles declared that James was 
11 splendid," and Malcolm seemed almost 
sorry that he had not met with the adven- 
ture himself. His governess assured him, 
however, that it was sufficiently terrible to 
be glad that he was not concerned in it. 

"The whole family to which James be- 
longed," continued Miss Harson, " ap- 
pear to have had a great deal to do with 
wolves, and a sister once attacked one of 
these dangerous animals by mistake. A 
pet lamb of which she was very fond had 
just grown up to a sheep, when a hungry 
wolf tried to make a meal of it. The 
young lady happened to see her favorite 
seized by an animal which she supposed 



4 



SO DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

to be a savage dog*, and, taking a large 
stick, she rushed to its rescue. At the 
first blow the intruder dropped his prey, 
and, turning around with a snarl, he dis- 
played the engaging face of a wolf. ' The 
animal seemed determined to get the sheep, 
and again attacked it; but he was beaten 
off a second time by his courageous foe, 
who actually followed him down a creek, 
thrashing him and calling for assistance. 
The assistance now came in the shape of 
a brother accompanied by dogs and bear- 
ing a gun. The wolf was not bold enough 
to withstand this addition to his foes, but 
ran away with such speed that there was 
not even time to get a shot at him/ ' 

" Wasn't that delightful?" said Clara, but 
she did not, like Malcolm, seem to wish that 
the adventure had happened to her. 

Edith hoped that the poor sheep wasn't 
hurt, but Miss Harson could only say that 
its brave mistress had evidently saved the 
poor thing's life. 

" Here is another story, which I will read 
to you," said the governess, picking up a 
book from the table near her, " of a brave 



A COUSIN OF THE DOG. 5 1 

young girl named Josephine who saved her 
father's life : 

" ' Her father was one of the most daring 
poachers in France. Night after night he 
watched on the frozen snow for the hare as 
it came out of the w r oods or the savage herd 
of wild boars ; for him to hunt was to live. 
But it was a poor, hard life for the poacher's 
daughter, and she shared only the misery 
which it brought. 

"' One cold, dark night Josephine was sit- 
ting in their humble home, her only com- 
panion being her pet dog Faro, waiting her 
father's return. Suddenly the dog rose 
from his place at her feet, breathed hard, 
pricked up his ears, then bounded toward 
the door, smelled the threshold and stopped. 
Josephine, seized with sudden fear, held her 
breath to listen. She heard nothing but the 
ticking of the clock and the beating of her 
heart. 

"'"The wolf!" she said, in a low voice; 
" it is the wolf. I am sure of it. Faro has 
smelled it. Yes, it is the wolf who prowls 
about the house and looks around to see 
where he can get in." 



52 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS, 

" ' Faro answered by a short, furious bark, 
a real cry of alarm. 

" ' " The door is still strong," thought 
Josephine, growing pale ; " the walls fear 
nothing. I am going to make a great fire, 
so that the light will shine out. The dread- 
ful beast will be afraid of that." 

" ' Suddenly a terrible anxiety filled her 
heart. 

"'"My father! where is he?" she cried, 
trembling. " He visits the traps at this 
time ; the wolves have perhaps scented 
him or the animals in the trap. There are 
several of them wandering about the forest. 
What will happen ? I must go there ; I 
must start at once." 

"'Faro understood; with flaming eyes 
and wide-open mouth he stretched his 
neck toward the collar bristling with nails 
which told him " you are going to war." 

" ' Josephine seized her fathers axe — his 
new iron axe, well sharpened. Faro, stand- 
ing at the door, his head raised, yelped in 
his impatience. But at the moment of 
meeting the danger Josephine felt her 
courage fail. Her hand resting on the 



A COUSIN OF THE DOG. 53 

peg, she paused, when these words, " Be 
thou faithful unto death,'/ came into her 
mind and urged her on. 

" ' " God wishes it ; it is my duty," she said, 
firmly, opening the door. 

" ' With one bound Faro sprang out, 
turned three times, sniffed the wind, and 
then stopped. The enemy had given up 
the siege. Josephine took courage, went 
out and closed the cottage. Everything 
was still ; not a breath of wind passed 
over the snow, 

"' The dog went on, and Josephine fol- 
lowed close. Soon they ascended a narrow 
ravine seamed with rocks, full of holly under- 
brush and juniper trees. Slowly Josephine 
picked her way through the thorns, when a 
strong odor of burning juniper branches 
blew toward her. 

M ■ " There is smoke," said Josephine ; 
" father is not far off. Does he want to 
drive away the animals, since he has lighted 
these husks ?" 

" ' She walked a few steps farther ; then 
beneath an overhanging rock she saw her 
father. He was on the ground, leaning on 



54 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

his elbow, blowing hard, but the fire was 
almost out. Josephine was going to call 
him, when opposite she saw in the shadow 
of the brushwood several bright points : 
those were the eyes of wolves. They were 
watching the dying fire ; they were waiting 
till the flames ceased to shine, in order to 
spring upon their prey. 

"' Josephine screamed. Two wolves 
rushed out of the thicket. With her axe 
lifted, her head raised and her foot firm, 
Josephine awaited them. Faro bounded to 
her side, and the fight commenced. The 
boldest of the two wolves threw himself 
upon Faro; the other drew back and faced 
Josephine. Leaning against a rock, he 
opened his black jaws bordered with sharp 
teeth. 

"'■"It is only a cub, daughter ; don't be 
afraid. Strike at the head," cried the 
poacher. 

" * Josephine raised her axe and let it fall, 
and the beast sank beneath the blow. The 
girl was free ; she turned toward her valiant 
friend. Faro defended himself bravely 
against the wolf, who held him down ; he 




JOSEPHINE AND THE WOLF. 



$6 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

returned wound for wound, bite for bite. 
Josephine wanted to help her generous pro- 
tector, but the combatants were so close that 
she could not strike at one without hurting 
the other. Finally they rolled together on 
the ground, and the noble dog had to yield : 
he was conquered, and would never rise 
again. 

" * With a howl of triumph the beast 
turned upon Josephine. Wounded, furious, 
with wide-open jaws it sprang toward the 
young girl, but Josephine quick as light- 
ning struck at her new enemy's head. The 
axe entered the wolfs brain, and was buried 
there : the blood flew, the beast staggered 
and fell: it was dead. Josephine, trembling, 
kneeled down and thanked God, who had 
preserved her. 

" ' Faro lay stretched on the snow, his 
life-blood flowing from gaping wounds ; but 
when Josephine spoke to him, he heard, 
raised his head with an effort, and his last 
look was for his mistress. Then his head 
fell again, and his brave heart for ever 
ceased to beat. 

"' "Leave him where he is," cried her 



A COUSIN OF THE DOG. $? 

father. " Come see if you can help me out 
of this fix." 

"' Josephine looked, and by the pale 
moonlight she saw the shining hooks of a 
trap closed over her father's leg. She got 
him out at last, after great efforts and suf- 
fering, but he left flesh and blood in the 
trap. He started homeward, dragging him- 
self on his hands and knees. Josephine 
smoothed the wav, moving 1 the stones and 
holding back the bushwood; but not until 
they had reached the cottage and the door 
was shut did Josephine feel perfectly safe/ ' 

"There was a brave girl for you !" said 
Malcolm ; but Clara thought she would 
rather not be so brave, if bravery led her 
into such terrible danger. 



CHAPTER III. 

SOME WOLF-STORIES. 

MISS H ARSON," asked Edith, -are 
little wolves savage too ?" 
" No, dear/' replied her governess ; "they 
can even be tamed if taken quite young. 
But the mother-wolf does her best to make 
them beasts of prey as soon as possible. 
There are usually from five to nine of them 
in one cradle, or nest, carefully hidden away 
from prying eyes ; and when they are a few 
weeks old, their mother teaches them to eat 
meat by first chewing it for them. She 
catches rabbits, hares, birds, and other small 
creatures, for her little family, who will first 
play with the poor things and afterward kill 
them. The old wolf then tears them into 
pieces. But this care does not last after 
the young ones are a year old, for the moth- 
er will then desert them for a new family." 

58 



SOME WOLF-STORIES. 59 

11 Do wolves live to be very old?" asked 
Clara. 

" They will die of old age in about twenty 
years, but in that time they can do a great 
deal of mischief. An old wolf grows gray 
and loses his teeth as the dog does, and in 
this condition he is probably often eaten by 
his savage comrades.' ' 

" I don't see how people can make pets 
of such creatures," said Malcolm, in great 
disgust. " I'm sure I shouldn't want a wolf 
around." 

"It seems to us a very singular taste," 
replied Miss Harson, " but Cuvier, the 
French naturalist, describes a tame wolf 
that had been brought up exactly like a dog 
and followed its master around in the same 
manner. It was perfectly obedient, and 
seemed quite as affectionate as its more do- 
mestic relative would have been. At lengfth 
the gentleman was obliged to leave home 
for some time, and as it was not convenient 
to carry his wolf with him, and as he could 
not feel sure of its behaving well under the 
care of a stranger, he gave it to the Jardin 
des Plantes, in Paris. As, besides losing 



60 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

his master's company, the hitherto free ani- 
mal was now put into a cage, it may be sup- 
posed that for a while it had a very dismal 
time of it. After some months, though, it 
seemed reconciled, and became very friendly 
with its keepers. But when, in the course 
of a year and a half, its former owner vis- 
ited the gardens and the wolf was set at 
liberty during his visit, it jumped upon him 
and caressed him just like a faithful dog. 
When his master left the place, the wolf 
pined as it did before. ' After the space of 
three years the master again returned, when 
the wolf — who had been living happily with 
a little dog — recognized him and uttered the 
most impatient cries until it was released 
from its cage. It immediately rushed upon 
its beloved master, placed its fore feet upon 
his shoulder, licked his face and threatened 
its keepers, who endeavored to remove it, 
and with whom it had just before been play- 
ing. Again its master left it, and this time 
it was so grieved at the separation that for 
a long time its life was supposed to be in 
danger. Gradually its health returned, but 
it had then lost all its affectionate disposi- 



SOME WOLF-STORIES. 6 1 

tion, and would suffer none but the keep- 
ers to approach, appearing to all strangers 
an ordinary wild wolf/ " 

" Oh, what a pity," said Edie, "when it 
must have been such a nice wolf!" 

Malcolm, too, began to think that, after 
all, people might make pets of some wolves, 
but Clara was not sure that she cared to 
see even this one. However, she asked 
Miss Harson, with great interest, if she 
knew anvthinor more about tame wolves. 

11 Only a very little/' was the reply, " of a 
wolf that was sufficiently tamed by one of 
the monks to come to the monastery among 
the mountains for his daily slice of bread. 
Two or three companions sometimes ac- 
companied him far enough to be fully seen, 
but Master Wolf plainly did not intend to 
share his feast, and as soon as they were 
under the wall of the monastery he drove 
the others away. Then he selfishly de- 
voured his bread ; and when it was safely 
disposed of, he rejoined his friends." 

" He wasn't nice," said Edith. 

" He was cute, though," replied her 
brother; " he wouldn't have had much 



62 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

bread if he had divided it with two or 
three hungry wolves." 

"I know a boy," said Miss Harson, 
quietly, " who, when he was a little fellow, 
had a tiny piece of candy given him, and 
divided it at once into three pieces — one 
for each little sister and one for himself. 
Yet he was very fond of candy, and he was 
seldom allowed to have any." 

Malcolm's face got very red, and " each 
little sister" gave him a warm kiss, for he 
was always generous to a fault. 

" Oh, well," said he, feeling rather foolish, 
"a boy isn't a wolf, I suppose." 

" Not exactly," was the reply, "but boys 
sometimes show wolfish traits, especially 
that too common one of selfishness. Cow- 
ardice, and cunning too, are seen, and we 
have great cause for thankfulness that they 
have not yet been discovered at Elmridge. 

"A writer tells the following story of a 
gentleman who was traveling in a sleigh in 
the wilds of Russia, and who was pursued 
by a pack of hungry wolves. He says: 

"'There are in Russia vast stretches of 
wilderness over which roam packs of wolves. 



SOME WOLF-STORIES. 63 

They are usually too cowardly to attack 
human beings, but in winter, when, on ac- 
count of the snow, they have difficulty in 
getting food, they become bold, and pursue 
sleighs traveling through the wastes. Once 
a Russian nobleman, with his child and a 
servant, had nearly reached their home, 
when they heard the howl of wolves. 
This was soon repeated from different 
directions, and, knowing their danger, they 
pressed on with all speed. The horses 
needed little urging, for instinct told them 
what the terrible cry meant. But pres- 
ently the gathering pack grew nearer 
and nearer. They came in sight, and the 
father trembled for himself and his child. 
A robe was thrown from the sleigh. The 
wolves fell on it and tore it to pieces, but 
they were not long kept back by it. Again 
they drew nearer and nearer, until every 
other means had been used, and the trav- 
elers had to resort to their pistols. Shoot- 
ing some of the foremost wolves, the rest 
paused a few minutes to devour them, and 
a little more time was gained. When they 
drew near again, the shooting was renewed, 



64 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

and this was repeated until the party had 
almost reached a place of safety. Now, 
however, the fierce creatures seemed to 
get an idea that their prey was about to 
escape them, and made a more savage 
dash than before. Death seemed to stare 
all in the face. The refuge was just ahead, 
the horses were racing with all their 
strength, but the wolves were leaping at 
the sleigh, when the driver, with a cry of 
farewell to his master, left the horses to 
themselves and sprang out into the savage 
pack of pursuers. The sleigh, freed of his 
weight, leaped forward as the horses re- 
doubled their efforts to escape, and soon shot 
into the courtyard of an inn and was out of 
danger. But the brave man who had been 
left behind, after defending himself as well 
as he could and keeping the wolves at bay 
until his master and the child were escaped, 
was overpowered and torn to pieces. He 
had given up his life for them/ ' 

Edith had not forgotten the story of brave 
Josephine, and she now asked, 

" Miss Harson, are there any more stories 
about brave little girls ?" 




DEFENDING H16 MASTER. 



66 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

44 I think I do know of one more," said 
her governess, kindly ; and she told the 
story of 

HOW GOD TOOK CARE OF LUCILE. 

One afternoon, at sunset, Lucile stood at 
the cottage window looking out upon the 
beautiful Swiss mountains. 

" Did you sigh, grandma ?" she asked, 
turning quickly and kneeling beside the 
old lady's arm-chair. 

14 Did I, Lucile ? You should know ; your 
ears are younger than mine." 

"Ah! but one does not need to hear to 
know when one's heart is heavy/' said 
Lucile, laughing. 4< What can I do for 
you, grandma ?" 

44 You are always doing for me. You are 
the best child in Switzerland/' said the 
grandmother, laying her hand tenderly 
on the little brown head. 

"Switzerland is full of good children, 
though the world may speak of it as a 
small country. But I cannot rest till I 
know what troubles you." 

44 Nothing ought to trouble me, little 



SOME WOLF-STORIES. 6j 

one, since we have home and bread and 
a kind Father over all. But sometimes I 
remember." 

Just what Lucile had been doing as she 
stood by the cottage window. But she did 
not say so ; she would not thus add to her 
grandmother's grief. 

" Besides, Lucile, we do not hear from 
your uncle." 

" Do not think of that, grandma ; there 
must be a letter somewhere — perhaps in 
the next village — and no one knows where 
to send it. We must get it in some way. 
Why, your yarn is all gone !" 

" Yes ; I shall miss my knitting/' said the 
old lady, with a sigh. 

"And have too much time to remember," 
thought Lucile. — " We must contrive some 
plan to get the letter and more yarn," she 
added, aloud. 

11 But how ? No one will go to the city 
for a week." 

Lucile did not answer for a moment ; then 
she said decidedly, 

" I will go to-morrow morning. Why 
not, grandma?" 



68 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

" Through the forest and over the ravine 
alone ? Oh no, Lucile !" 

" But Jennie, the watchmaker's child, did 
the very same, and she is not so old nor so 
strong as I. Why, grandma, the story got 
to America and into a book. But no one 
would think of putting me into a book. 
All I want is to get your letter and yarn, 
and to bring the smile back to your dear 
face." 

The grandmother looked lovingly into 
the bright eyes, saying, 

" Whether you go or not, my child, a 
blessing will surely come upon you. He 
who says, ' That it may be well with thee/ 
never breaks his word. Go now to rest, 
my darling." 

Lucile went to sleep, and dreamed about 
the work of the next day. She had never 
been much from her native village, except 
now and then to spend the summer with 
her father far up the mountain. He was 
a herdsman, and drove his cattle into the 
mountains to find pasture. At such times 
they were many, many thousand feet above 
the level of the sea. There they lived for 



SOME WOLF-STORIES. 69 

months in a rude hut called a chalet, caring 
for the flock and making cheese and butter. 
But those happy days were over. Lucile's 
father had perished in a fearful snow-storm 
among those very mountains. Afterward 
she lived for a short time with her uncle, 
who was a woodcutter. Now, woodcutting- 
in Switzerland is quite important work, 
since they have no good coal and the 
houses are built of wood. Besides, France 
and Germany get much lumber from Switz- 
erland. Now Lucile lived with her grand- 
ma in the little village where she was born. 

The next morning the little girl was as 
anxious as ever to go for the letter and the 
yarn. After much persuasion, her grandma 
gave consent. Lucile made excellent prep- 
arations. She followed the example of 
Jennie, the watchmaker's daughter, in 
wearing' a short dress, thick boots, warm 
cloak and hood, in carrying a staff, and, by 
all means, a lantern, lest she should be late 
and a wolf should meet her. 

The walk through the forest and over the 
ravine was enchanting; the snow and the 
icicles were things of beauty that took away 



JO DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

all loneliness. Lucile reached the city 
safely, bought the yarn, found the letter, 
and with a heart full of glee because of 
the joy she was about to give turned toward 
home. After climbing over so many steep 
places in the morning, however, Lucile was 
rather weary for her afternoon walk. Still, 
the wish to be a comfort to her grandmoth- 
er, and thus please her heavenly Father, 
helped her even more than she had been 
helped by the pleasure and the excitement 
of the first effort. 

Thus it was till near the edge of the last 
forest ; then the dear child was so tired and 
chilly that she sat down — just for a moment, 
as she said, but she shut her eyes and 
leaned against the fallen tree that lay 
so invitingly along the path, and many 
moments passed. All at once she heard 
a strange cry. Quite wide awake now, 
she made haste to light her lantern. It 
was nearly dark. Just behind her shone 
the bright eyes of a wolf. 

Lucile remembered that Jennie had gone 
that same way, and perhaps met that very 
same wolf; if so, he might not be so easily 







Si '/' 

THE FRIGHTENED WOLF. 



72 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

frightened as before. Still, Lucile tried 
Jennie's plan of flourishing the lantern 
directly in his face. This she did, while 
her heart seemed to stand still, and she 
was speechless with fright. This was cer- 
tainly another wolf; or if the same, he was 
not sufficiently familiar with lanterns to like 
them, for he turned and ran into the bushes. 
Lucile, now wade awake, turned also and 
hurried out of the forest. 

There was true joy that night in the lit- 
tle Swiss cottage, and much thankfulness to 
the heavenly Father who had sent the wolf 
just in time to arouse Lucile from that dan- 
gerous sleep, and then had sent him back 
affrighted into the depths of the forest. 

"Miss Harson," said Clara, presently, "I 
have found a verse in the Bible that says, 
* Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf/ What does 
that mean ?" 

"To * ravin/ or 'ravage/ dear, means to 
injure and destroy, and implies a state of 
fury. But read the entire verse, Clara, and 
tell us where it is." 

" It is in Genesis : ' Benjamin shall ravin 



SOME WOLF-STORIES. 73 

as a wolf; in the morning he shall devour 
the prey, and at night he shall divide the 
spoil/ " * 

"And what have you, Malcolm ?" 
" ■ Her princes in the midst thereof are 
like wolves ravening the prey to shed 
blood/ "f 

11 Have you any more, Clara ?" 
" Yes, Miss Harson ; here are two verses: 
'Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall 
slay them, and a wolf of the evenings shall 
spoil them ;'J 'Their horses also are swifter 
than the leopards, and are more fierce than 
the evening wolves.' " § 

" It is also written/' said Miss Harson, 
" ' Her princes within her are roaring lions; 
her judges are evening wolves/ | And 
our Lord says, ' Beware of false prophets, 
which come to you in sheep's clothing, but 
inwardly they are ravening wolves/ ^[ xAJl 
these verses show the habit of the wolf to 
hide itself by day and steal out upon its 
prey in the dark, and they also express its 
ferocity. Our Saviour speaks of the rav- 

*Gen. xlix. 27. f Ezek. xxii. 27. J Jer. v. 6. 

§ Hab. i. 8. || Zeph. iii. 3. \ Matt. vii. 15. 



74 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

ages of these bloodthirsty animals among 
the Eastern sheepfolds, and compares him- 
self to a good shepherd guarding his sheep 
against them. He says: 'I am the good 
shepherd ; the good shepherd giveth his 
life for the sheep. But he that is an hire- 
ling, and not the shepherd, whose own the 
sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and 
leaveth the sheep, and fleeth ; and the wolf 
catcheth them and scattereth the sheep. 
The hireling fleeth because he is an hireling, 
and careth not for the sheep/ " * 

" Miss Harson," said Malcolm, "here is 
part of another verse that I found: 'The 
wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and 
the lion shall eat straw like the bullock. ' " -f 

"The prophet is speaking there of the 
blessed hereafter, when the state of things 
that causes so much sorrow and suffering 
shall be entirely changed and the fiercest 
natures shall become gentle and loving. 
The wolf and the lamb shall be companions, 
and that fierce beast of prey the lion will be 
satisfied with the food of our domestic an- 
imals.'' 

*John x. 11-13. f Isa. lxv. 25. 



SOME WOLF-STORIES. f$ 

" Miss Harson," asked little Edith, who 
was getting quite restless for another story, 
11 did such a person as little Red Riding-hood 
ever really live ?" 

11 Yes, dear," replied her governess ; 
" there have been many such little girls in 
different countries, and I can tell you some- 
thing of the French home where she is 
generally supposed to have lived, but I 
cannot promise you a real story. I have 
called . this 

"LITTLE RED RIDING-HOOD'S HOME. 

11 ' / know where she lived/ said little 
Alice ; ' she lived in the country, near a 
beautiful wood, and she had to go through 
the wood to get to her grandmother's house. 
And then the wicked wolf saw her, and he 
ran on ahead and got there first, and then 
— and then — ' 

" It is too harrowing, and tender-hearted 
little Alice, as she thinks of the poor old 
grandmother, breaks down and cries. 

" This is the little maiden's favorite story, 
and she will coax the larger children to play 
' wolf/ and then scream and hide her face 



76 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

in her mother's dress when the savage an- 
imals run after her on all-fours with brown 
or golden curls hanging down their backs, 
and growl fiercely for their supper. 

" The shrieking and laughing and growl- 
ing go on until Alice is carried off to her 
little white bed, and then the older children 
gather around for a story. 

" Charlie says, 

" ' Where did Little Red Riding-hood live, 
auntie ? Do you believe it was a place just 
like this, with a mill-pond and woods and 
fields like ours ?' 

" \ No, my little man, not in the least like 
this ; and I am very doubtful about the 
wood, for trees are scarce there. Little 
Red Riding-hood lived in Brittany.' 

"'Why, that is England!' exclaims 
Laura. 

"'Wrong, my little geographer. Britain 
is England, but Brittany is the north-west 
corner of France. Here it is on the map 
for you, and, although not very far from 
England — just across the Channel — it is dif- 
ferent in every way, and the people seem 
to be a race by themselves. It is a poor 



SOME WOLF-STORIES. JJ 

barren country washed by the sea and very 
dreary, and it is chiefly famous for its Dru- 
idical stones. The Druids were priests and 
had a strange religion that has passed out 
of the world. They held their services in 
groves and made altars and monuments of 
immense stones, some of which are stand- 
ing now, but many of them have fallen to 
the ground. There are large "dunes," or 
sandhills, all along the coast of Brittany, 
and the quicksands — that is, places where 
the sand is largely mixed with water and 
not solid enough to support a person's 
weight — are very dangerous, especially for 
travelers who pass them after dark and 
often sink into their treacherous depths. 

"'The men and the women of Brittany 
are queer-looking objects and seem as if 
they were dressed for a masquerade. The 
men wear their hair very long, reaching 
even to their shoulders, and their hats are 
very broad-brimmed. Their dress seems 
to be all waistcoat, and this absurdly long 
garment is often of the brightest colors and 
gayly embroidered. Their trousers end just 
below the knee and display to great advan- 



78 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

tage the thick woolen stockings and ugly 
shoes which give their feet the appearance 
of being in boxes. The women wear 
snowy caps w r ith wings which entirely con- 
ceal the hair; their skirts are short and 
scant, and the whole dress is clumsy. The 
style varies in different provinces, but it is 
handed down from one generation to an- 
other, and fashions never change. 

" ' The people of Brittany delight in 
stories and songs, and on a cold winter 
evening the villagers will meet at some 
particular cottage where there is a good 
large room, while the great blazing fire 
gives all the light that is needed. The 
women form a spinning-circle and are as 
busy as bees, while the young men range 
themselves outside of the line. All the old 
stories that have been told over and over 
again for hundreds of years are repeated 
at these meetings, and enjoyed a great 
deal more than if they were brand-new. 
Every one must tell a story or sing a 
song to amuse the company, and the 
stories and the songs are all about things 
that happened in Brittany. It was proba- 



SOME WOLF-STORIES. fg 

bly in one of these spinning-circles by the 
winter fireside that the quaint legend of 
Red Riding-hood was first told ; for wolves 
abound in Brittany, and the recent loss of 
some child in this dreadful way may have 
been the foundation of the story which is so 
very sad, and yet so very delightful when- 
ever it is told. 

" ' Wolf-hunts are very common where 
there are so many wolves, and some- 
times, in the deepest recesses of a wood, 
the hunters will come upon the " wolves' 
kitchen." This is the spot where the savage 
animals enjoy their repasts, which they do 
not take the trouble to cook, and the frag- 
ments of bones and fur scattered around 
show what kind of provisions they in- 
dulge in. These animals are also said 
to have a dancing-saloon — an open place 
in the forest with a beaten path around it 
— and here they come to frolic by the light 
of the moon. Farmers living near the 
woods have declared that they heard the 
wolves howling like dogs at the sound of 
the morning-bell from the church- tower, 
for their revels must now be ended. The 



80 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

farmers do not like them, for, thanks to 
the prowling wolves, 

" ' " There is no flock, however watched and tended, 
But one dead lamb is there." 

•' ' The same story of Little Red Riding- 
hood is found in Germany, too, and other 
northern countries, but there the ravening 
wolf is Night or Darkness, and " Little 
Red-Cap/' or Red Riding-hood, who is 
swallowed up by the cruel beast, is Even- 
ing, with her crimson robe of sunset. 

"'This is much the prettier story of the 
two/ " 

The children were very much interested 
in Miss Harson's account, but of course 
the older ones laughed when Edith asked, 

" Did wolves ever talk ?" 

" Only to one another, dear," was the re- 
ply, "but I used to think they did, because 
the wolf talked to Red Riding-hood. But 
this story, which all children love so dearly, 
is only a fable, although, like many other 
fables and legends, it teaches an important 
lesson. Red Riding-hood, in the story, was 



SOME WOLF-STORIES. 8 1 

told by her mother not to linger by the way, 
but to go directly to her grandmother's ; yet 
she stopped to pick the flowers and to go 
through the wood, and there she met the 
wolf, who is thought to represent the evil 
one, and, listening to his questions, she told 
him all she was going to do, until he knew 
just what course to take to destroy her and 
her grandmother too. So, if we put our- 
selves in the way of sin instead of fleeing 
from it, it will in the end swallow us up." 

6 



CHAPTER IV. 

ABOUT BEARS. 

" r I "'HERE are lots of nice things about 

X bears," said Malcolm, who seemed 
to be preparing himself for a season of 
great enjoyment, "and I know ever so 
many queer ways that they have." 

" Perhaps, then," said Miss Harson, very 
quietly, "you will kindly introduce to us 
some of your furry acquaintances. How 
many of them have you met?" 

The young gentleman looked rather fool- 
ish when he found that he really had not 
much to say for himself, after all, as he had 
seen none but the bears at Central Park, 
and the stories he had read were not always 
founded on truth. 

" Do people meet bears ?" asked Clara — 
" I mean really walking in the street, like 
any one else." 

82 



ABOUT BEARS. 83 

" Not often, dear," was the laughing re- 
ply, " but I really met one once in that way." 

" Oh, do tell us about it, please !" 

" There is not much to tell, and, like des- 
sert before dinner, stories should not come 
first in our exercises. But you shall hear 
all that there is of this one. I was paying 
a visit 'way up in the State of Maine in 
October, and early one moonlit evening 
I was walking alone through the village 
street, when a black animal which I took 
to be a large dog ambled past me in an 
awkward sort of fashion, and trotted on. 
But I found out afterward that it was a 
bear, for a little farther on some men were 
going in pursuit of it, and the poor creature 
was killed." 

" You'd have been dreadfully frightened, 
wouldn't you, Miss Harson," asked Edith, 
"if you'd known it was a bear?" 

"Yes, dear; I have no doubt I should 
have been. And yet, you see, it did not 
harm me in the least. We are often ' dread- 
fully frightened ' when there is no occasion 
for being so." 

" But it isn't very nice," said Clara, M to 



84 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

have bears walking about. I thought they 
were always climbing trees, or something." 

" It is well for the trees that they are not 
'always climbing' them," replied her gov- 
erness, " but it is rather out of the common 
way for these animals to be walking about 
in a village. Yet bears were very hungry 
that season, for food was scarce and poor 
Bruin was roaming about in quest of some- 
thing to eat. It is said that when bears do 
this the winter will be a very hard one." 

"And was that winter hard ?" asked Mal- 
colm. 

" Yes ; it was bitterly cold, and many poor 
people suffered. But let us see now what 
we can remember of our bear-acquaintances 
at Central Park. We will leave the little 
polar bears for another time. What can 
you tell us, Edie, of the large bears ?" 

"Why," said the little girl, trying hard to 
recollect, " they were dark — 'most black — and 
they were real fat, and they climbed up ; 
they had funny pointed noses, and — and — " 

"That is doing very well indeed, dear," 
said Miss Harson, " and I doubt if any of 
us can remember much more. I think that 




THE BLACK BEAR. 



86 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

the animals at the Park belong to the com- 
mon brown bear family of Europe — a species 
very much like our black bear, and by no 
means savage, as they prefer vegetable 
food to animal food. There are several 
species of bears, and all belong to the 
plantigrade family — that is, they place the 
whole of the foot on the ground in walk- 
ing. They will often walk on their hind 
legs, but they are slow runners and much 
too clumsy for anything like springing. 
The fore legs and the hind legs are of 
nearly the same length, and this prevents 
them from getting over the ground very 
fast. This bear is about four feet long- 
just your length, Edie, if you were down 
on all-fours — and two and a half feet high. 
His curved claws measure about two inches 
and can do considerable scratching and 
tearing. All bears have very short tails 
and long muzzles, and our black American 
bear belongs to the same species as this 
brown one. Both are comparatively harm- 
less animals, fond of fruit and vegetables 
and having a great weakness for honey. 
They are solitary animals, and each one 



ABOUT BEARS. 87 

seems to prefer living by himself. They 
like thick forests, especially when they are 
on mountains, and they are very partial to 
caves. You noticed that place in their en- 
closure at the Central Park where the rocks 
had been arranged like a cave ? and this 
might be called their sleeping-apartment. 
It is usually provided in captivity wherever 
it is possible. The common American bear 
is about five feet long and has very soft, 
smooth fur of a glossy black. But it is 
sometimes of other colors, as the cinna- 
mon bear, the yellow bear, etc. It is quite 
a timid animal, and is more likelv to run 
away from people than to attack them ; 
but when very hungry, it will steal a fat 
pig from the barnyard, and, walking on its 
hind legs, it will hug the prize very tight in 
its fore paws. Piggy squeals, of course, 
and sometimes its owners will run out 
and get it away from the bear. Quite 
often the hugging kills it, and there is 
nothing to do but to make it into pork. 
Bruin likes lambs too, and does not object 
to fish. But he can go a long time without 
eating when food is not to be had, and, as 



88 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

he sleeps nearly all winter, he does not re- 
quire much to eat in cold weather." 

" Don't bears eat acorns, Miss Harson ?" 
asked Clara. 

"Yes; they are very fond both of acorns 
and of nuts, and they delight in berries of 
all kinds. Parties of children who have 
gone blackberrying and raspberrying on 
the mountains have often been frightened 
away by a bear, which, after seeming to 
enjoy their terror, would coolly go around 
from pail to pail and empty every one of 
them. He evidently liked this much better 
than scratching that long nose of his among 
the thorns as he tried to eat the fruit from 
the bushes/' 

" Why were they so silly as to leave 'em ?" 
asked Malcolm, as though he would not 
have done such a thing. 

"The first time/' replied his governess, 
smiling, " that you go out to pick wild 
berries and see — or think you see — a bear, 
your question will be better answered than 
I can do it now. — Our black friend is also 
very fond of various kinds of roots, which 
he is said to * grub up ' in a very skillful 




BEAR EATING BERRIES. 



90 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

manner. He generally finds all the food 
he needs in the woods, and, as he is also 
partial to their shelter, he is not often seen 
far away from timber regions. ' In all the 
large forest-covered districts, therefore, of 
North America, from the Atlantic to the 
Pacific, both in the United States and in 
Canada, the black bear is more or less 
plentiful.' As settlers have cut down the 
woods in different regions, this animal, with 
others, has disappeared; but there are few 
of our States in which wild tracts are not 
still found stocked with bears, and in some 
parts of the country they are as plentiful as 
ever. The canebrakes and the forests of 
the South and the West afford exciting 
sport to the bear-hunters all the year 
round. " 

" Isn't there something about a bear-hunt, 
Miss Harson ?" asked Clara. 

"Yes, dear; there is something about 
several bear-hunts in these books, but I 
do not think you would enjoy many of 
them. It seems that ' the pursuit of the 
black bear is a favorite amusement with 
the settlers in the backwoods. The ani- 



ABOUT BEARS. 9 1 

mal is chased by dogs, which soon cause 
it either to "tree" or to come to bay in 
some spot where it can defend itself with 
advantage. The hunter then steals up 
while the bear's attention is drawn off by 
the dogs, and delivers the fatal bullet from 
a distance of a few yards. Should the in- 
censed animal, however, get the hunter 
within his clutches, he will make him pay 
dearly for his temerity in venturing to such 
close quarters. When the bear takes refuge 
from his pursuers in a cave or in a hollow 
tree, he is forced from his shelter by smoke. 
Sometimes he is taken in a pen, or is caught 
beneath a ponderous log so arranged as to 
fall on the springing of a trigger to which 
the bait is attached/ " 

" I'd like to see a bear ' treed,' " said Mal- 
colm. " Can he climb up very high ?" 

" Yes. ' Thanks to the strength with 
which Nature has supplied him, he can as- 
cend the tallest and smoothest trees with 
ease/ A large black bear has been known 
to keep a hunter and his dogs at the foot 
of a tree nearly all night watching for him 
to come down or to get a good shot at him. 



Q2 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

But lately, on a California ranch or cattle- 
farm, a large cinnamon bear was treed to 
some purpose by a band of mules. He 
had been feasting on young pigs, and then 
went to the mules' quarters to get a drink 
of water. The owner, having seen him, 
went into the house to get his rifle ; but 
while he was gone the mules kicked the in- 
truder from all directions, and were so 
thoroughly inhospitable that the bear hastily 
climbed a tree to get out of their reach. 
Then he displayed a short chain that was fas- 
tened to a collar, showing that he was pri- 
vate property ; so, instead of shooting him, 
some workmen on the farm climbed another 
tree near by and secured the runaway with 
a lasso. This speedily brought him to the 
ground; but I think this is the only time 
mules ever took part in capturing a bear." 

This seemed very funny, and the little 
Kyles considered the bear altogether a very 
interesting animal. 

"There is a story which you may like/' 
said Miss Harson, " of a boy who had a nar- 
row escape while bear-hunting with his 
uncle. After some mishaps, they were hid- 



ABOUT BEARS. 93 

. ing among the bushes, waiting for a bear 
that was being driven out of the woods and 
would be likely to pass near them in endeav- 
oring to escape from his pursuers. Edward 
was young and not used to hunting, while his 
uncle was experienced and knew what to 
do. He was a little afraid to trust quite to 
the sureness of Edward's aim, and so, when 
he heard the crashing through the bushes 
which told him the bear was near, he said 
to his nephew, ■ When I speak to you, do 
exactly as I say/ In an instant the bear 
came in sight just in a line which would 
pass over Edward's head. The uncle aimed 
with his rifle straight at the bear, and called 
out, * Lower your head!' His finger was 
on the trigger: a gentle pressure, and the 
rifle would send its bullet out with terrible 
force, when his body seemed to stiffen, the 
blood left his face, and he was pale as a 
sheet; for just as he was about to fire, to 
his horror, Edward, instead of doing as he 
was told, became excited and sprang up as 
he took aim at the bear himself. It was 
but a second when the report of his rifle 
rang through the air, and he shouted with 



94 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

joy as he saw the bear fall. But behind 
him stood a man pale and trembling with 
the reaction which comes when a great dan- 
ger has been escaped, and exclaiming, 4 My 
God, I thank thee !' And well he might ; 
for if God had not stayed his finger when 
it was even on the trigger, his rifle-ball 
would have crashed into the brain of his 
nephew, while he (the nephew) had had no 
thought of his danger and had no idea of 
his wonderful escape. His conduct had 
been just what was most calculated to bring 
him to his death, but God had saved him." 

" Miss Harson," asked Clara, " do bears 
really eat honey ? And if they do, how do 
they get it?" 

" Yes, dear," replied her governess ; " the 
black bear — which we are stilt considering 
— is very fond of honey, and he is always 
hunting for a bee-tree. Being such an ex- 
pert climber, * he has no difficulty in prose- 
cuting his never-ending search for the hives 
of the wild bees, which are usually the holes 
worn in some patriarch of the forest by the 
corroding effect of the weather or by inter- 
nal decay. If the entrance to these stores 




A NARROW ESCAPE. 



96 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

is too small to admit his head, he soon en- 
larges it with his powerful claws. His thick 
fur is a perfect defence against the attacks 
of the enraged insects, whose buzzing le- 
gions the robber regards with the profound- 
est indifference. But should a sting be in- 
serted in a tender part, such as the eye or 
the lip, the bear immediately retreats to 
some neighboring branch for a short space 
until the irritation subsides, when he again 
advances to the attack.' " 

" It's a pity he couldn't get stung all 
over; ' said Malcolm. " Does he ever get 
hold of garden beehives ? M 

"Whenever he has the chance, but this 
usually makes very lively work on both 
sides. Various plans are tried to keep the 
hives from the attacks of bears, and on in- 
terfering with one of them the thief is sure 
to meet with a dreadful death. 'If the hive 
is fixed at a considerable height in a tree, 
the ground under the tree is carefully 
planted with sharpened stakes, the pointed 
end being upward. Just below the hive is 
placed a stout board as a seat on which the 
bear can rest, while a heavy log of wood is 



ABOUT BEARS. 97 

suspended before the entrance of the hive, 
but not sufficiently close to annoy the bees. 
The bear, on sniffing the hives, commences 
an ascent up the tree, and on reaching the 
hive finds a capital seat ready for him ; so 
he sits down and tries to poke his nose into 
the honeyed stores. The log now comes in 
the way, and he pushes it away with his 
paws while he endeavors to peep into the 
hive ; but no sooner does he put his nose 
near the hive than the locr returns and hits 
him on the head. Being naturally exasper- 
ated at such treatment, he strikes away the 
log with his paws, and of course experiencs 
a severer blow than before. Being now 
thoroughly angry, he engages in a regular 
fight with the log, which always strikes him 
on the head, until at last it knocks him fairly 
off his perch and throws him on the stakes 
below, where he remains impaled.' " 

This seemed horrible ; but if Bruin made 
himself such a nuisance, he could not ex- 
pect very gentle treatment. 

14 Here is something pleasanter," contin- 
ued the young lady, " and in this account 
the bear, instead of being a thief, actually 

7 



98 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

captured a thief. It appears that a poor 
foreigner was once traveling with a dancing 
bear to pick up a little money, and, reaching 
a small tavern late in the evening, he asked 
for a night's lodging. The landlord was 
willing to take the man, but he could not 
have the bear in the house, and, not know- 
ing what else to do with him, he put him 
into the pig-pen, and brought the sow and 
her one little pig into the kitchen. There 
had been five little ones, but during that 
same week four were stolen, and only one 
was now left. Before daylight every one in 
the house was roused by dreadful screams 
from the pig-stye. The landlord and the 
foreigner rushed there at once to see what 
was going on, and there stood the bear on 
his hind legs closely hugging^a man. The 
thief who had stolen the other little pigs 
came back for the last one, and, feeling 
about in the dark for his prize, he received 
a warm and unexpected embrace from the 
new tenant of the pen. He confessed his 
guilt and restored the stolen pigs, but he 
had been nearly killed with fright, and he 
was such a laughing-- stock in the neighbor- 



ABOUT BEARS. 99 

hood that he almost wished he had been 
quite killed." 

"That was a nicer bear than the other," 
said Edith. " But, Miss Harson, can a bear 
really dance ?" 

" Not really, dear, according to our ideas 
of dancing ; the animal merely stands on 
its hind legs and raises first one foot and 
then the other. This is said to be taught 
by placing a hot plate under each foot in 
turn, and it is certainly a very cruel way. 
But the black bear, if taken young, can be 
made quite tame, and for this reason bears' 
cubs are always in demand. It is not easy 
to get them, for these animals are very de- 
voted to their young, and it is only by kill- 
ing the mother or watching for her absence 
in quest of food that little bears can be cap- 
tured. They have been known to become 
quite attached to their owners, and are 
sometimes taught to perform many amus- 
ing feats. Here is a little story you will 
like about a gay time enjoyed by a pet 
bear during the absence of his mistress: 

■■ Mrs. Peters had no little children, but 
she had a cat, a bird and a bear. Bruno 



IOO DANGEROUS CHARACTERS, 

was a half-grown black bear ; he seemed 
almost like a child to his mistress, he was 
so affectionate and playful. One day Mrs. 
Peters said to Bruno, 

"'1 am going to see old Aunt Lucy 
Stone ; I hear she is very sick. You must 
stay in the woodshed until I come back, and 
be a good bear ; perhaps I will bring you 
some candy/ 

" Bruno looked at his mistress earnestly, 
as if he quite understood what she said to 
him. Just as she turned from him to fasten 
the door he raised himself on his hind feet 
and gravely held out his right fore paw for 
her to shake. Was not that cute in him ? 

" Mrs. Peters went away to visit her old 
friend without any uncomfortable feelings 
about the pets she had left behind her ; but 
if she had peeped in at the sitting-room 
window about half an hour later, she would 
not have felt so comfortable. Master Bruno 
had no idea of remaining shut up in the 
shed while she was absent, so he worked 
at the fastenings on the door leading into 
the kitchen until they became loose; then 
he forced the door open and entered. 



ABOUT BEARS. IOI 

Looking around to see what he could find, 
he spied die closet where Mrs. Peters kept 
her cake and crackers. Well, well ! here 
was a frolic just to his mind. Before you 
could say ' I thank you ' he had upturned 
the cake-box and devoured most of its 
contents; there was not much room left 
for the sweet crackers of which he was 
so fond, but he disposed of a few. A 
package on the second shelf proved to 
be — what do you think ? — maple-sugar. 
But, oh dear ! he could not eat it all, so 
he carried a great piece of the dainty to 
his box in the woodshed and hid it in the 
straw ; then he trotted back to do some 
more mischief. He saw a box nicely tied 
up on the upper shelf; down he tumbled it, 
and, lo ! it was his mistress's bonnet. That 
was fun ! He hugged it up in his paws and 
knocked it all over the room, and out into 
the shed even. At length growing tired of 
playing monkey-tricks, he carried his treas- 
ure to a mat that his mistress had made for 
him to lie on. Still holding it tightly, he lay 
down for a nap. Bruno must have won- 
dered at Mrs. Peters's taste in selecting so 



102 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

queer a shape for her bonnet when he 
looked at it after his sleep, during which 
he had been using it for an elbow-cushion. 
Such a fright as it was ! you could hard- 
ly have told what the original shape had 
been. 

" But now the side door was opened, and 
there stood his mistress. Bruno dropped 
the bonnet as soon as he looked into her 
face, and ran away to his night-bed in the 
woodshed. 

" ' I have been foolish to keep that bear 
so long just because John gave him to me,' 
she said, ' I will send him away to-morrow ;' 
and she did. 

u Now poor Bruno has to dance all day 
long with a stick in his fore paws for a hard 
master who often beats him." 

Edith felt very sorry for the poor bear, 
and said, 

" I guess he'll stay in the woodshed next 
time. ,, 

" Indians have a great respect for the 
bear," continued Miss Harson, after a while. 
"They call him 'brother/ but this does not 
prevent them from laying snares for him. 




BEAR AND BONNET. 



I04 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

One of the most ingenious of these is prac- 
ticed while the animal is swimming." 

" Can bears swim, Miss Harson?" asked 
Clara, in great surprise. 

"Yes, the most clumsy of them can do 
this, after a fashion. But such heavy ani- 
mals clo not find it very easy work, and they 
are quite helpless in the water, for all their 
attention is given to keeping their noses 
above the surface to breathe. The Indians 
know this, and put their knowledge to good 
use. Taking his stout upper garment in his 
hand, or a blanket, which does just as 
well, an Indian hunter turns the stern of 
his canoe opposite the bear, and, suddenly 
throwing this extinguisher over the animal's 
head, he paddles on. The bear immediately 
puts up his fore paws to snatch-it off, but he 
only gets his head under water. He gets 
frantic and tears at it, but down, down, his 
nose goes, and he splashes and chokes until 
he can struggle no more. Then a line is 
tied to him and he is towed ashore, some- 
times quite dead, and always in a condition 
to be easily killed." 

Malcolm thought he could catch a bear 



ABOUT BEARS. 105 

in that way, but his governess advised him 
not to try until he had at least seen the feat 
performed. 

"These same Indians," continued Miss 
Harson, u have very curious notions about 
the bear, and a traveler who spent some time 
among them gives an account of the queer 
ceremonies that followed the killing of a 
bear which the whole family with whom he 
was staying had turned out to hunt. This 
animal, after a great deal of hard work in 
cutting through a large tree in which it had 
concealed itself, finally appeared, and was 
shot by the traveler. 'The bear being 
dead,' he says, ' all my assistants approached, 
and all, but particularly my old mother — as 
I was wont to call her — took the head in 
her hands, stroking and kissing it several 
times, begging a thousand pardons for tak- 
ing away her life, calling her their relation 
and grandmother, and requesting her not to 
lay the fault upon them, as it was truly an 
Englishman that had put her to death. This 
ceremony was not of long duration ; and if 
it was I that killed their grandmother, they 
were not themselves behindhand in what 



106 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

remained to be performed. The skin being 
taken off, we found the fat in several places 
six inches deep. This, being divided into 
two parts, loaded two persons, and the 
flesh-parts were as much as four persons 
could carry. In all, the carcase must have 
exceeded five hundredweight. As soon as 
we reached the lodge the bear's head was 
adorned with all the trinkets in the posses- 
sion of the family — such as silver arm-bands 
and wrist-bands and belts of wampum — 
and then laid upon a scaffold set up for its 
reception within the lodge. Near the nose 
was placed a large quantity of tobacco. 
The next morning no sooner appeared 
than preparations were made for a feast 
to the manes. The lodge was cleaned and 
swept, and the head of the bear lifted up 
and a new blanket which had never been 
used before spread under it. The pipes 
were now lit, and Wawatam blew tobacco- 
smoke into the nostrils of the bear, telling 
me to do the same, and thus appease the 
anger of the bear on account of having 
killed her. I endeavored to persuade my 
benefactor and friendly adviser that she no 



ABOUT BEARS. \0J 

longer had any life and assured him that I 
was under no apprehension from her dis- 
pleasure, but the first proposition obtained 
no credit and the second o-ave ^ ut little 
satisfaction. At length, the feast being 
ready, Wawatam made a speech resembling 
in many things his address to the manes of 
his relations and departed companions, but 
having the peculiarity that he here deplored 
the necessity under which men labored thus 
to destroy their friends. He represented, 
however, that the misfortune was unavoid- 
able, since, without doing so, they could by 
no means subsist. This speech ended, we 
all ate heartily of the bear's flesh, and even 
the head itself, after remaining three days 
on the scaffold, was put into the kettle.' " 



CHAPTER V. 

SOME BEAR-HUNTS. 

MISS HARSON," said little Edith, 
when the account of the Indian 
ceremonies over the dead bear was finished, 
"I think that was very silly, don't you ?" 

"Yes, dear; all heathen ceremonies are 
silly. But these poor people, you must re- 
member, had had no one to teach them that 
they who fear God need fear nothing else, 
not even a dead bear.- — And now, Clara, 
what is it that you are so anxious to ask?" 

" Is there just one more story, Miss Har- 
son ?" answered Clara, in a beseeching 
voice. 

"I have one here which I will read to 
you," laughingly answered her governess. 

At this welcome news the little girls cud- 
died down into their usual places by Miss 
Harson's side, while Malcolm disposed him- 

J08 



SOME BEAK-HUNTS. IO9 

self on the floor in front of his beloved 
teacher. 

A MOTHER'S AFFECTION. 

" Grandmother, please tell us about the 
bears you used to see when grandfather 
first came to this country?" 

It was growing dark in the pleasant sit- 
ting-room, and the sea-coal fire was blazing 
brightly. Claude and his twin-sister Claudia 
were seated on hassocks, one on either side 
of the beautiful old lady with "such lovely 
silver hair," whose peaceful countenance, 
while it bore the traces of suffering and 
care, was asrlow with the lia-ht of immortal 
joy and of the faith which conquereth all 
things. Dearly she loved these little ones, 
and quickly she roused herself from her 
revery to listen to their request: 

"A story about bears ? Well, let me see. 
Perhaps you will like to hear about the 
old she-bear your grandfather and uncle 
Lodi tried to kill?" 

" Oh yes, grandmother ; that's the very 
story I want to hear. I've forgotten it, if 
you did tell it to us." 



IIO DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

11 Well, one day we were frightened al- 
most out of our senses by seeing a great 
bear and her cubs approaching the house. 
Your grandfather and his brother seized 
their axes — for we hadn't a bit of powder 
for the gun — and ran out to meet her. As 
soon as the little boys heard about it they 
followed after, thinking themselves very 
brave, although I would have been better 
pleased if they had remained in the house : 
I was afraid they would be hurt. Our brave 
dog Ponto was foremost of all, but he only 
enraged the bear, who thought he meant to 
kill her babies. She caught him in her 
sharp teeth and flung him on the ground 
dead. As fast as the men advanced she 
retreated until she was under cover of the 
wood; then she stood at bay, and two of 
her cubs ran away, while the other one 
climbed a tree whose low branches offered 
him a shelter. 

" Very slowly and cautiously your grand- 
father approached the great and seemingly 
clumsy creature, but not a move did she 
make until he was close to her; then sud- 
denly she raised herself on her hind feet 



112 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

and struck him with her fore paw and 
knocked him over. His brother sprang 
forward, but Mrs. Bruin was ready for him, 
and over he went also. They now were 
more cautious, and contrived to hit her, but 
could not kill her, for she was wonderfully 
agile for such a clumsy creature. Two of 
her cubs were now safely off, but the little 
scamp up in the tree gave her much un- 
easiness. She fought so bravely for him 
that it seemed cruel to your grandfather to 
kill her, because she endangered her own 
life to preserve her cubs ; so he stood still 
at a little distance, beside your uncle, to see 
what Mrs. Bruin would do. She waited for 
some time, growling now and then, but at 
last seemed to understand that she was not 
attacked, and called her baby^ down from 
his hiding-place, which he left very unwill- 
ingly. She watched with her keen eyes 
every move her enemy made. The old 
mother then sent her cub on ahead, cover- 
ing his retreat as well as she could by going 
backward herself; if either of her foes 
moved toward her, she turned savagely and, 
snarling viciously, showed every one of her 



SOME BEAR-HUNTS. 113 

great teeth. But it was not long before this 
last baby was comparatively safe, for he 
made excellent use of his four limbs when 
he once got started. When the mother- 
bear felt easy about him, she gave a fare- 
well growl and ran away. People laughed at 
the idea of respecting a bear's feelings, but 
we cared nothing for that." 

14 1 think 'twas real good and sweet of 
grandfather not to kill the poor mother-bear, 
who could just as well have run away as 
not, but who stayed by her baby," said 
Claudia, earnestly. 

" Grandfather was always kind to animals, 
as every Christian should be. If we love 
God, we will love what he has created." 

" I thought we ought to kill wild beasts, 
grandmother?" 

11 Not unless they endanger human life or 
are injurious otherwise, dear boy; and it is 
always unkind needlessly to take a mother 
away from her young, especially while she 
is endeavoring to protect them." 

This story was listened to with great 
pleasure, and after a while Clara said, 

8 



114 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

"Miss Harson, please tell us something 
about the bear's going to sleep in winter? 
Does he sleep all winter long, day and 
night too ?" 

" That is the general belief/' replied her 
governess, u but the sleeping 'all winter 
long ' depends upon circumstances. Here is 
a queer old fable which seems to explain the 
reason of the bears long sleep: 'In the 
mountains of Helvetia there was a certain 
cowherd who, coming down a hill with a 
great caldron on his back, saw a bear eat- 
ing of a root which he had pulled up 
with his feet. The cowherd stood still till 
the bear was gone, and afterward came to 
the place where the beast had eaten the 
same, and, finding more of the same root, 
did likewise eat it ; he had no sooner tasted 
thereof but he had such a desire to sleep 
that he could not contain himself, but he 
must needs lie down in the way, and there fell 
asleep, having covered his head with the 
caldron to keep himself from the vehemency 
of the cold. There he slept all the winter- 
time without harm, and never rose till the 
spring-time ; which fable if a man will be- 



SOME BEAR-HUNTS. 1 1 5 

lieve, then doubtless this herb may cause 
the bears to be sleepers, not for fourteen 
days, but for fourscore days together/ " 

" What became of the rest of him ?" said 
Malcolm. " I mean what wasn't under the 
caldron. " 

" I do not know," was the laughing reply, 
"what kept * the rest of him ' from freezing, 
nor how he managed to breathe with his 
head under a caldron. But this is quite 
as sensible as most fables. There is no 
doubt, however, that the bear spends most 
of the winter in sleeping, being partial to a 
cave as a place of retreat for the quiet season. 
Here, the Indians declare, he subsists upon 
his fat, and comes out in the spring in good 
condition. A bold hunter will sometimes 
attack him in his dark lair by the light of a 
torch — a sort of rough candle made of wild- 
bees* wax mixed with bear's grease and 
stuck into a block of wood for a candle- 
stick. It is hard to get into this place, and 
still harder to get out, for the passage lead- 
ing to Master Bruin's sleeping-apartment 
is usually very narrow ; but hunters do not 
stop at trifles, and, crawling on his hands 



Il6 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

and knees, the intruder manages to hold 
his rifle and push his light along in front of 
him. At length the den widens, and there, 
in the farthest corner of the cave, lies the 
bear in a furry heap with his nose buried 
between his fore paws. So soundly does 
he sleep that the hunter often has to whis- 
tle to wake him." 

" What does he want to wake him for ?" 
asked Malcolm, in amazement. " I should 
think he'd be easier to shoot when he's 
asleep. I would not wake him." 

" Nor I, either," said Miss Harson ; " but, 
you see, Malcolm, we have never been bear- 
hunting. The experienced hunter knows 
the best spot at which to aim, and this is 
more than likely not to be exposed in the 
animal's sleeping position ; so he whistles, 
and Bruin half opens his small sleepy eyes 
and winks and blinks for a second or so at 
his visitor, then probably shuffles forward 
to sniff at the candle, with some intention of 
eating it. Now is the hunter's chance, and 
his only one. He fires, and it is to be hoped 
for his safety that the bear is mortally 
wounded. But it seems for a minute or 



SOME BEAR-HUNTS. 117 

two as if the cave had been blown to pieces, 
and the reverberation is terrible. If the hun- 
ter's hand was steady, the animal is now in 
his last sleep, and there is nothing to do but 
to drag out the carcase, which will give him 
meat and oil and a comfortable fur robe, or 
he can sell all these things and get others 
which he needs more. Here are some 
verses/' continued the young lady, " about 
the bear's winter sleep, and ■ Candlemas 
Day' is the second of February: 

" ' On Candlemas Day — 

So wise folks say — 
The bear from his den peeps out ; 

And if the sun shines 

On hemlocks and pines, 
And the snow lies white about, 

And if the old bear, 

As he peeps from his lair, 
Sees his shadow stretched out before, 

He turns him around 

And crawls back underground 
For a nap of six weeks or more. 

" * He's a cunning old bear, 
For wise folks declare 
That when these things come together, 
'Tis true as true 
That for six weeks through 
We'll have no more pleasant weather, 
But cold winds will blow 
And ice and snow 



Il8 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

And frost will cover the ground, 
. While this sharp old bear, 
In his warm, sunny lair, 
Will sleep till the spring comes round.' " 



The little girls hoped that if they ever 
saw a bear loose he would be asleep, but 
their brother seemed to think it would be 
grand fun to wake one up and shoot him. 

" I once read an interesting story," said 
Miss Harson, "of a little country-girl who 
went to the pasture, some distance from the 
house, to bring the cows home, and who 
saw in an adjoining field a large bear that 
was directly in the way the cows would 
have to take. All domestic animals are 
very much afraid of those in a wild state, 
and the cattle were huddled together in a 
corner, trembling all over. The little airl 
did not know what to do, for she herself 
was dreadfully afraid of the bear, but the 
cows would suffer if not milked, and their 
milk was needed for supper. 

"The bear did not seem to want to hurt 
the cows, and he was also disposed to be 
sociable, for he came walking on his hind 
legs up to the fence and gently laid his paw 



SOME BEAR-HUNTS. II9 

on the little hand that rested there while 
the owner of the hand was considering 
whether she could climb over the fence and 
run for dear life to the cows and let them 
out. She started at the touch, and screamed, 
but presently she mustered all her courage 
and shook the paw of her new acquaintance. 
This seemed to please him very much, and 
they soon came to a friendly understand- 
ing. 

"Around the bear's neck there was a col- 
lar with a long chain hanging from it, and, 
letting down the bars, this little heroine 
took hold of the chain and led her captive 
down the road, where she tied him securely 
to a tree. He was a very tame bear indeed, 
and quite willing to be led about. Then 
the cows w 7 ere driven into the road and 
started on the way home, to which they 
scampered as fast as their clumsiness would 
let them, for their little overseer was follow- 
ing with the bear, and they wished to keep 
him as far off as possible. But the bear 
himself was quite contented. 

" Every one at home was very much sur- 
prised at this unexpected arrival, but some 



120 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

one soon came to claim the bear for a trav- 
eling menagerie from which he had escaped, 
and where he was a valuable performer. 
There was a reward offered for him which 
seemed a very large sum to the brave little 
girl to whom it was given, and, now that 
she had found a bear so easy to manage, 
she would not have minded leading one 
home every day in the week." 

"Then," said Edith, very seriously, "if I 
see any one's bear with a chain round his 
neck, Til lead him home too. But I will not 
take the money, because I only want the 
people to have him again." 

" They do not get loose very often, dear," 
replied her governess, smiling, " and it 
would scarcely be wise to try the experi- 
ment, for even educated bears are not al- 
ways gentle. Not very long ago a child 
undertook to pat one of these animals, 
when it growled savagely, and, catching her 
clothes in its teeth, it carried her off some 
distance. It was immediately followed by 
several men of the place, and the father of 
the little girl shot the animal dead without 
harming her. She had a few small wounds 



SOME BEAR-HUNTS. 121 

and bruises from the bear's teeth and she 
was nearly frightened to death, but every- 
one felt that she had had a wonderful escape. 
It is not likely, though, that she would ever 
go very close to another bear." 

This story made Edith change her mind 
quite suddenly, and she and Clara speedily 
concluded that they did not care to meet 
any menagerie animals loose. Malcolm, 
however, evidently longed for just such a 
bear as the little country-girl led home. 

"There are a number of stories/' con- 
tinued Miss Harson, u of people who met 
bears unexpectedly. Here is one about a 
boy who lived in a ' dug-out ' in Kansas : 

"A ' dug-out ' is a cabin made in the side 
of a hill. It has but one room, and must 
be very damp and dark. But, still, good 
people can be happy in such a home as a 
' dug-out.' 

11 Sam's father and mother were good 
Christian people. They loved God and 
prayed and read the Bible every day. 
When Sunday came, there was no church 
for them to go to ; so they had a church at 
home. They would go out-doors in sum- 



122 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

mer, and in winter they gathered about the 
fire and read the Bible, and talked about it, 
prayed and sung. So Sam learned about 
God as his loving Father who would take 
care of him, hear him when he prayed and 
order everything for his good. 

"One day Sam was out playing with 
Tyro. Faithful Tyro always kept close by 
his little master. This day they were on 
the top of the hill right over their house, 
when all of a sudden a great black bear 
appeared on a little hill opposite. Sarins 
face grew white and his heart went pit-a- 
pat. Tyro's ears stood up, and he seemed 
stiffened with terror. 

" ' O God !' thought Sam. It was all the 
thought that came to him. 'O God, help!' 
he whispered ; he could not speak aloud. 
He was too scared to pray in words, but he 
kept saying, 'O God! O God!' But that 
one word was prayer, and God heard the 
poor child's cry. The bear walked to the 
edge of the hill, looked at the boy and the 
dog, and then turned and walked off. 

"For several minutes the boy and the 
dog kept still ; it seemed as if they could 




SAM AND THE BEAR. 



124 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

not move. Then Sam, trembling like a leaf, 
ran down into the house and hid his face in 
his mother's lap. He cried so hard it was 
some time before he could speak ; then he 
told his mother what he had seen. She 
could scarcely believe him. But before long 
his father came in. 

"'Judy, we've lost our calf/ said he, 'but 
I shouldn't wonder if we had been saved a 
bigger trouble. There's been a great bear 
around here, and he tore poor little Bossy 
all to pieces.' 

" Then the mother hugged her little boy 
closer in her arms and told the father the 
story Sam had just been telling her. 

"'Thank God!' said the pious father; 
' he let the bear have the calf to save the 
boy.' " 

Edith was quite affected by this story, 
and thought the bear was real nice to run 
away and not hurt poor little Sam. 

" In speaking of the favorite food of these 
animals," said Miss Harson, " fish were men- 
tioned, and no cat is more fond of fish than 
are the bears. They show great ingenuity, 
too, as fishermen, and especially in their 



SOME BEAR-HUNTS. 1 25 

style of catching salmon. This fish, it 
seems, 'is famous for its method of going 
up stream. It darts at falls ten or twelve 
feet high, leaps into the air and rushes up 
the falling water in a marvelous manner. 
So determined are the salmon to attain the 
high and safe waters that in some localities, 
beneath the falls, are placed nets into which 
the fish tumble in their repeated attempts 
to clear the hill of water. Other than 
human hunters, moreover, profit by these 
scrambles up hill. Travelers report that on 
the banks of the upper St. John's River, in 
Canada there was once a rock in which a 
large circular well, or pot-hole, had been 
worn by the action of the water. At the 
salmon season this rock proved a favorite 
resort for bears, and for a good reason. 
Having an especial taste for salmon, the 
bears would watch at the pot-hole, and as 
the salmon, dashing up the fall, were thrown 
by its force into the rocky basin, the bears 
would quickly scrape them out of the pot- 
hole, and the poor salmon would be eaten 
before they had time to wonder at this un- 
looked for reception/ " 



126 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

As Malcolm said, this was comical for 
every one but the salmon, and it gave the 
little audience a new idea of the talents of 
bears. 

" I wish, Miss Harson," said Clara, " that 
you had a real long story of your own 
about bears ; I am sure it would be ever so 
nice." 

Of course Malcolm and Edie were sure 
too, and the young lady replied : 

"We have not come to the end of bears 
yet; we have been talking only about our 
common black bear and the larger black or 
brown bear found in some other countries 
and seen in shows. We are to become ac- 
quainted yet with the fierce grizzly bear, 
who is also one of our native productions ; 
but perhaps, as my story is about a brown 
bear, it will be more in place to tell it now." 

Every one quite agreed with her, and, 
smiling pleasantly at the eager faces around 
her, Miss Harson began the story of 

JOE'S BEAR. 

Little Joe Martin had always wanted to 
hunt a bear. One of the reasons why he 



SOME BEAR-HUNTS. 1 27 

could not do this was because there were 
no bears where he lived, and another rea- 
son was that a boy only ten years old is 
much too young to go hunting, especially 
for wild animals. 

Joe had wanted to hunt bears when he 
was only five; and when he found any one 
who would tell him a story, he would al- 
ways say, " Please let it be about bears." 
He had a book about animals that was full 
of pictures, and mamma used laughingly to 
say that Joe seemed to take particular com- 
fort in the bears. He had no brothers nor 
sisters, for he was an only child, but he lived 
in a fine large house in the city, and most 
things that he wanted seemed to come to 
him quite easily — all except bears ; yet 
every summer, when the family went into 
the country to spend the warm months, 
Joe had his little hunting-suit and went 
off into the woods with his bow and ar- 
rows and tried hard to find a bear. Of 
course he didn't know that if there had 
been any bears in that part of the country 
he would not have been allowed to eo out 
alone, and it would have spoiled much of 



128 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

his pleasure to tell him that there was no 
chance of his ever seeing any kind of wild 
animal in the woods. So Joe persevered in 
his hunting all these five summers ; and 
when he was ten years old, something hap- 
pened that looked very much like having 
found a bear at last. 

Papa and Mamma Martin and Joe trav- 
eled all the way up to Maine that summer, 
and one evening they arrived, very tired 
after their long journey, and went early to 
bed. They were to stay only a few days in 
that place and then go on to a large hotel 
among the mountains, but as soon as they 
got there Joe wanted to stay all summer. 
It was quite wild and still, with not another 
house to be seen without going down the 
road, and our young hunter felt quite sure 
that there were bears around. 

Mrs. Martin had a bad headache and did 
not get up to breakfast, but Joe had tum- 
bled out of his high straw bed in the next 
room at a very early hour, and, fresh and 
rosy from his cold bath, ran out of doors 
to explore the premises. He saw no one, 
for the family were all busy in the kitchen, 



SOME BEAR-HUNTS. 1 29 

and the young explorer ran on delightedly 
around the barn and the corn-crib, admir- 
ing the quantities of chickens and geese 
and ducks, and thinking how splendid it 
was to have so much ground all belonging 
to one house, when suddenly, in a lonely 
spot close to a low stone fence, he saw his 
long-wished-for bear. 

Fortunately, the bear was fastened by a 
strong chain to a firm young tree ; but if 
the truth must be told, he was a very ugly- 
looking creature. He was not naturally 
handsome, with those puffed-out cheeks 
and pointed nose and mouth, while the 
dull little eyes and the short ears had a 
very bad expression. His great round 
back was like a pig's, and his paws were 
horribly thick and strong-looking. His 
head, too, was so close to the ground, 
while most of Joe's bear-acquaintances in 
books stood up on their hind legs and 
looked quite pleasant and smiling. This 
animal was brown in color, with lighter 
shades on the back, and he gave a smoth- 
ered sort of growl as the boy approached 
him. He was a very hungry bear, for he 



130 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

had had no supper the night before, nor 
a mouthful of breakfast, and he glared 
now at the knickerbockers that were mak- 
ing their way toward him, and believed that 
he saw his breakfast in a very attractive 
shape. 

Joe was startled for a moment by the 
ugly countenance and the gleam of dan- 
gerous-looking teeth, but he was a brave 
boy and had no thought of running away. 
He concluded that, as the bear was chained, 
he was put there to be tamed, and he had 
read somewhere that the first step toward 
taming an animal was to look very steadily 
in its eyes and approach it by degrees. 

The bear didn't mind being stared at, as 
he just stared steadily back, and he would 
have done the approaching, himself, but not 
by degrees, had he not already been at the 
extreme end of his chain. There was a 
wicked gleam in his dull little eyes as he 
saw the distance lessening between him and 
a good breakfast, while Joe said to himself, 

" I'm almost near enough now to pat his 
head, and then he'll be subdued." 

The bear looked wonderfully like it, to 



SOME BEAR-HUNTS. 131 

be sure, and it is dreadful to think what 
might have happened the next moment had 
not Joe been frightened away from the sav- 
age monster. 

" Boy ! boy !" was suddenly shouted from 
a distance. " Your mother ! Quick !" 

Joe, who was devoted to his mother, made 
such a sudden rush for the house in his fear 
that something dreadful had happened to 
her that he fell at a safe distance from the 
bear, and sprained his ankle. 

The bear was mad enough to dance at 
losing a delicious meal that was getting un- 
der his very nose, and he growled savagely 
and tried to break his chain ; but the land- 
lord, who had called the boy away from him, 
gave him something to dance for in the 
shape of a heavy blow on the head from 
a stout cudgel. This partly stunned and 
quite subdued him, when the man carefully 
lifted Joe from the ground and carried him 
into the house. 

A wandering German who took the bear 
around with him to get a little money — al- 
though it was only partly tamed and very 
savage when hungry — had reached the little 



132 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

tavern the night before so exhausted with 
his day's tramp that after fastening the bear 
where the landlord directed him to do it he 
went to bed and to sleep, and had not yet 
awakened. But, one of the kitchen-maids 
having seen " the pretty boy with the queer 
legs" — for knickerbockers were unknown 
at the Poplar House — start off with the 
evident intention of finding out all there 
was to be seen on the premises, reminded 
the landlord of the bear, and Joe was res- 
cued just in time to prevent him from mak- 
ing a dainty meal for the hungry animal. 

A sprained ankle was nothing compared 
with what might have happened, but it was 
enough to keep the Martin family at the 
Poplar House longer than they had expected 
to stay. Mrs. Martin's headache was fairly 
frightened off when she saw Joe carried in 
pale and helpless, but she said that she pre- 
ferred the headache to the remedy. 

Joe was quite cured of his desire to hunt 
bears, but while he was a prisoner on the 
lounge with his lame ankle papa went into 
the woods with a party of gentlemen and 
really shot a black bear. The skin was 



SOME BEAR-HUNTS. 1 33 

made into a nice rug for Joe's pretty room 
at home/' 

"And whenever Joe saw that," said Mal- 
colm, when they had all expressed their 
thanks for the story, " he must have thought 
of the bear that he didn't tame/' 



CHAPTER VI. 

A SAVAGE BEAST. 

MISS H ARSON," said Malcolm, "will 
you please tell us why the grizzly 
bear is called 'grizzly' ?" 

" Because of its shaggy hide, which even 
when it is young is very much mixed with 
gray. — This bear is the largest and the most 
dangerous wild animal found in this country ; 
it is from eight to ten feet long and often 
weighs eight hundred pounds. It is found 
chiefly among the Rocky Mountains and on 
the plains east of them." 

" I'm glad he isn't anywhere around here," 
said Clara. 

" He is certainly not a desirable neigh- 
bor," replied her governess, "and these ter- 
rible claws of his — fully six inches long — 
are said to cut like chisels when the mon- 
ster gives a blow with his massive fore arms. 

134 



136 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

'The strength of this blow is tremendous. 
With a stroke of his ponderous paw he will 
disable a buffalo bull, and then drag away the 
carcase with almost as much ease as a cat 
can carry a rat/ The grizzly's claws can be 
used very conveniently, as he can move 
each one by itself; so that when searching 
for larvae in the decayed fragments of a 
dead tree he can crumble the wood to 
straws by moving his claws in succession. 
Every other animal seems to have a great 
respect for ' Old Ephraim,' as Western hunt- 
ers call the grizzly bear, and even wolves 
will not dare to touch a carcase which he 
has left anywhere, although they will pass 
nothing else that can be devoured. This 
brings up another peculiarity of our new 
acquaintance, which can best be explained 
by one or two anecdotes. A famous hunter 
once shot a huge bison, and, having left it 
to look for help to cut it up, he found on 
his return that it had been taken away 
while he was gone, After some trouble he 
struck the trail of a grizzly bear, and, fol- 
lowing this, he came at last to the body of 
the bison in a deep grave which had been 



A SAVAGE BEAST. 1 37 

dug by the bear after carrying off the dead 
animal." 

" What did he do that for?" asked Mal- 
colm. " Didn't he want to eat the bison ?" 

" Yes, but he was not hungry just then, 
and he buried it as a dog buries a bone — ■ 
to dig up when it is wanted. Hunters have 
often taken advantage of this strange habit 
by pretending to be dead when it was im- 
possible to escape from a grizzly in any 
other w r ay. As soon as the man is quiet 
the bear will cease to attack him, and he 
then drags away what he supposes to be a 
dead body to some convenient place, and 
buries it." 

"But doesn't the man smother in the 
ground ?" asked Clara, with great interest. 
" How can he ever get out alive ?" 

" I shall have to tell you the experience 
of an old hunter," replied her governess, 
" which he always told himself with great 
enjoyment. — One bright winter's day he was 
in a pleasant little valley surrounded by 
hills, and not thinking in the least about bears 
— for he supposed they would all be fast 
asleep for two or three months yet — when, 



I38 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

hearing a sort of sniff behind him, he 
looked around to see a grizzly standing on 
his hind legs within ten feet of him. It seems 
that the first thing this animal does on see- 
ing any unusual object is to rear himself up 
in this queer fashion and take a Jong steady 
stare. He then seems to make up his mind 
for a pitched battle, and rushes straight on 
in the most ferocious manner, without regard- 
ing any obstacles. His style of attack, too, 
is quite different from that of his cousin the 
black bear, who merely hugs his victims, for 
the grizzly usually gives a single blow with 
his formidable paw, and the battle is ended. 
Unfortunately for our hunter, his rifle was 
on the ground, close to the bear; he had 
neither knife nor pistol, and there was not 
a tree to be seen up which he rould climb. 
The grizzly bear is too unwieldy to get up 
a tree, and, had there been one at hand, the 
hunter would have felt safe." 

" What did the poor man do, Miss Har- 
son ?" asked Edith, in great excitement. 
"Did the bear eat him?" 

" No, dear. The hunter had heard of 
what he called ' the dead trick/ and, as it 



A SAVAGE BEAST. 1 39 

was his only chance of escape, he suddenly 
dropped down close to the bear's nose. 
He shut his eyes and expected every min- 
ute to feel the savage beast's teeth or claws, 
or both, but the animal contented himself 
with sniffing around the man and cutting up 
some queer antics with his fore legs while 
sitting on the hind ones. This seems to be 
a favorite attitude with the grizzly bear. 
Presently dropping down on all-fours, he 
caught up the hunter by the shoulder and 
carried him about a hundred yards away. 
Then, letting go of him, he industriously 
scraped sand and dirt over him until it was 
a foot deep. The man who was being bur- 
ied felt quite choked, and could scarcely 
keep from coughing and wheezing while it 
was going on, but he quaintly said that 
4 one never knows what he can do till a 
grizzly gets hold of him/ For a full hour 
he did not dare to stir, for fear that the 
bear was watching him, but then he could 
stand it no longer, and, pushing off his un- 
pleasant covering, he glanced cautiously 
around. To his great relief, his enemy was 
not in sight, but his tracks were, and, pick- 



140 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

ing up his rifle, the indignant hunter went 
after the bear and killed him.' , 

"That was splendid \" exclaimed Mal- 
colm, in great enthusiasm. " How glad he 
must have felt!" 

" I have no doubt that he did," was the 
reply, "and we will hope that he devoutly 
thanked God for his wonderful escape. — 
Another hunter, although not in so much 
danger, had a much more tiresome time of 
it, for a grizzly bear kept him up a tree all 
night." 

"Oh!" said the children, rather unex- 
pectedly. " Please tell us about it, Miss 
Harson. That will be delightful!" 

" It was not very ' delightful ' for the poor 
hunter, who had been hired by a gentleman 
to go hunting with him. But they sepa- 
rated for a time, and while the gentleman 
was resting on the side of a ledge of rock, 
and rather wondering what had become of 
his companion, he heard a singular noise 
that seemed to come from the other side of 
the ledge. He could not imagine what it 
was, but, determining to find out, he crept 
cautiously to the top of the bluff and peered 



A SAVAGE BEAST. I4I 

over. ' Not twenty feet away/ said he, 
1 was a huge bear with two cubs, each as 
large as a small calf. I realized at once, from 
the size of the mother as well as from her 
shaggy coat of dun-brown hair thickly 
flecked with gray, that she was a grizzly. 
My first impulse quickly to seek a safe 
locality was overcome by curiosity, and I 
decided to remain and watch the animals 
for a few minutes. The cubs were having 
a nice time rolling over and over upon the 
pine-cones with which the ground was 
strewn, reminding me in their actions of 
two great Newfoundland dogs at play, while 
the mother was evidently enjoying the scene 
quite as much as myself. Occasionally she 
would sit upright upon the ground and, rub- 
bing her nose with her paws, cast a glance 
upward, while she uttered the low wheezing 
growl that had first attracted my attention. 
Then, stretching herself at full length upon 
the ground, she would playfully push with 
her paws what at first sight I thought was 
a crooked stick, but which, to my horror, I 
soon discovered was a broken stock of a 
rifle. I noticed that the cubs, like the old 



142 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

bears, appeared to be especially attracted 
toward one particular tree, rubbing them- 
selves against it, scratching it and reaching 
up toward the top. By dint of repeatedly 
changing my position I at length discovered 
through the thick foliage the form of Obed 
perched high up in the branches of a large 
birch, regarding with a most lugubrious 
countenance the playful gambols of the af- 
fectionate trio beneath him." 

"Didn't he tell any more?" asked the 
eager voices. "And what became of the 
poor man in the tree?" 

"The gentleman quietly took his way 
back to camp, for he saw that he could be 
of no use and the bears might spy him if 
he stayed. He thought it likely, too, that 
by daylight they would go off and give the 
hunter a chance to come down from his 
perch. This is just what they did ; and 
when ' Obed ' told his story, he said that 
in turning the corner of a ledge he came 
suddenly on the bear and her cubs. She 
was too close for him to fire, and, striking 
her on the nose with his gun, he climbed a 
tree. The angry bear tried to scratch and 



A SAVAGE BEAST. 1 43 

shake the tree down ; then, seeing the rifle 
on the ground, she snatched it up and broke 
and twisted the barrel. All day and all 
night the bear and her cubs kept watch at 
the foot of the tree, but soon after daylight 
they went off, and the tired and hungry 
hunter joined his companion at the camp as 
soon as possible." 

" I'll remember," said Malcolm, " to climb 
a tree when I see a grizzly bear; but I 
sha'n't want to stay there all night." 

"Another hunter tells of an adventure 
which he had while camping on the banks 
of the Roque River. After traveling a 
week the party stopped to rest their oxen 
and horses, and the hunter went out to 
shoot a deer, as they required provisions. 
While riding along, looking out for deer, he 
saw an old grizzly bear rising from his lair 
beneath a tree. If the hunter had been in 
the open country, he would have cared lit- 
tle for his enemy, for his swift horse would 
have borne him away with ease, but he was 
entangled among brushwood and tall grass, 
and the bear gained upon him. The horse 
seemed to know that a terrible enemy was 



144 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS, 

behind him, and did his best. The rider 
threw off his cloak to try to deceive the 
bear, but it delayed him only a few moments. 
At this time, when every minute was valu- 
able, the horse stumbled over a fallen tree 
and fell, snorting with fear. The man rose 
and with throbbing heart, but with steady 
eye and firm wrist, waited for his foe. Just 
as the bear gathered himself up for a last 
spring the hunter fired. There was a crash, 
with a contest and a struggle, but the man 
gained the victory. With a thankful heart 
he helped his poor horse to his feet and rode 
into camp, where he told his tale, to the 
surprise of the listeners, and showed the 
skin of his dead foe. 

"This fierce animal is very hard to kill/' 
continued Miss Harson, "and it scarcely 
seems to know when it is killed. ' Its fero- 
city is exceedingly great/ says our natural- 
ist, 'and such is its tenacity of life that it 
seems to care little for half a dozen bullets 
or so through its lungs, and has been known 
to run more than a hundred yards after a 
ball has passed through its heart. Indeed, 
a ball through the brain or the spine seems 



I46 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

to be the only method of bringing this 
ferocious animal to the ground at once/ 
We often see in pictures of Indian warriors 
a necklace or collar made of the grizzly 
bear's great curved claws, and this is worn 
only by a man who has killed one of these 
savage animals with his own hand. Such 
an ornament is considered far more honor- 
able even than a scalp, and we know from 
what we have already read that the Indians 
stand in great awe of the bear, whether it 
be alive or dead. The Scandinavians, or in- 
habitants of Northern Europe, have a simi- 
lar feeling in regard to this powerful animal, 
and the Norwegians say that a bear is as 
strong as ten men and has the sense of 
twelve. They do not call it a bear, but 
speak of it quite respectfully as 'the old 
man with a fur cloak/ " 

"Isn't that comical ?" laughed the chil- 
dren. 

They agreed, however, that, as the bear 
really has a " fur cloak," and a good warm 
one too, this was not so much out of the 
way, after all. 

" Miss Harson," asked Clara, "aren't you 



A SAVAGE BEAST. 147 

going to tell us something more about griz- 
zly bears ?" 

"A little more," was the smiling reply, 
" for I know that you will enjoy hearing 
about the queer capers of one of these 
huge animals which came rather unexpect- 
edly upon a hunters' camp and approached 
within a hundred yards of it. Then it stood 
quite still and stared hard at the fire, the like 
of which, in all probability, it had never before 
seen. The hunters did not move, for it was 
best at that distance to wait and see what 
their undesirable visitor would do. The 
bear was on his hind legs, which is his 
favorite attitude for taking a survey, and 
this and his solemn aspect as he stood there 
considering would have made him seem 
very absurd if he had not been so danger- 
ous. 'The fire and the motionless figures 
round it seemed to rouse his curiosity, and 
after taking a good survey of the strange 
objects he threw himself from his erect po- 
sition upon all-fours and advanced toward 
the camp, now and then giving vent to a 
growl of dissatisfaction. When within fifty 
yards, matters began to look serious. 



I48 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

Clearly, the grizzly meant action, for his 
growls became more frequent and savage, 
and a row of shining teeth displayed them- 
selves, which suggested to the trappers the 
advisability of taking measures for their 
safety/ 

" The camp was near a river, where their 
raft was lying, and they decided to get on 
this as speedily as possible and push off 
from the beach. They had scarcely done 
this when the huge bear plunged into the 
camp and attacked all the (to him) queer 
things that had been left around the fire. 
He seemed determined to know what they 
were made of, and pulled them about with 
a great clatter. He was wonderfully inter- 
ested in a large kettle filled with hot water, 
and the hunters on the raft were both 
amused and delighted to see him put his 
nose in it. The warm reception he met 
with produced a loud snarl and a sudden 
jump. He w r as in a perfect rage, and, seiz- 
ing the kettle to punish it, he gave himself 
a shower-bath of scalding water. 

"A loud shout of laughter from the raft 
drew the attention of the enraged animal 



A SAVAGE BEAST. 149 

in that direction, and, smarting with pain, he 
rushed to the water's edge and plunged in 
with the evident intention of attacking the 
whole party. But the party attacked him 
by firing three rifles at once, and after a 
feeble attempt at swimming the huge body 
began to sink. A noose was then flung 
over the head of the dead grizzly, and he 
was towed along with the raft." 

" Poor thing !" said Clara and Edith ; but 
Malcolm declared that he deserved it for 
poking into a camp and frightening people 
in that way. Besides, he would have eaten 
them all if he had caught them. 

There seemed to be no reply to make to 
this, and their governess told them that 
people could not be sorry when grizzlies 
were killed, because they were such savage 
and dangerous animals. 

" It is impossible to tame them," contin- 
ued the young lady, "and a grizzly that had 
been in confinement for twenty years would 
not allow even the keeper who always fed 
him to take the slightest liberty. Before 
they get their eyes open the little bears will 
snarl and growl if they are touched, and 



150 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

will try to use their claws. For this reason 
hunters always kill them, for no one wants 
such ill-tempered creatures for pets. 

"It was probably a grizzly that figured 
in the following story, although this animal 
is not apt to spare any one who seems to 
be alive : 'An old Indian named Keskarrah 
was seated at the door of his wigwam by a 
small stream not far from Fort Enterprise, 
when a large bear came to the opposite 
bank and remained for some time appar- 
ently surveying him. Keskarrah, consider- 
ing himself in great danger and having no 
one to assist him but his aged wife, made a 
solemn speech to the following effect : " O 
bear, I never did you any harm. I have al- 
ways had the highest respect for you and 
your relations, and never killed any one of 
them except through necessity. Pray go 
away, good bear, and let me alone, and I 
promise not to molest you." The bear 
walked off, and the old man, fancying that 
he owed his safety to his eloquence, favored 
the gentleman who told the story with his 
speech at length/ It is more likely, how- 
ever, that the animal was not hungry, or 



A SAVAGE BEAST, 151 

that he did not think the old Indian looked 
good enough for him to eat." 

"I shouldn't suppose that he would think 
so," said Malcolm. " But, Miss Harson, do 
people ever eat bears ?" 

" Yes indeed !" was the reply. " Hunters 
think bear-steaks and bear-hams are very 
good, and the paws are a great delicacy. 
Indians and Esquimaux, and the inhabitants 
generally of cold countries hunt bears for 
the sake of their flesh as well as for their 
fur. The latter is used for rugs, cloaks, 
caps, gloves, and other articles, and the 
most useful kind is soft and smooth and of 
a glossy black. " 

" Miss Harson," said Clara, "are the 
bears in the Bible like any of our bears?" 

" No, dear," was the reply. "When 
bears are mentioned in the Old Testament, 
they are of the species known as the Syrian 
bear. The color of this bear is a sort of 
dingy white or light brown, and a stiff 
mane of erect hairs between the shoulders 
gives it a very odd appearance. It attacks 
flocks and ravages fields of grain and veg- 
etables. As an enemy to sheep we read 



152 



DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 



of this bear in First Samuel : 'And David 
said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his fathers 
sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, 
and took a lamb out of the flock : and I 




SYRIAN BEAR. 

went out after him, and smote him, and de- 
livered it out of his mouth: and when he 
arose against me, I caught him by his beard, 
and smote him and slew him. Thy servant 
slew both the lion and the bear.'* — Now, 
Clara, I think you have some verses to read 
about bears — at least, you look as if you 
had." 

* I Sam. xvii. 34-36. 



A SAVAGE BEAST. I 53 

" I found 'em, too/' said Edith, " but Clara 
can read 'em better." 

The children all found the place in their 
Bibles, while Clara read the verses: 

" 'And he went up from thence unto 
Bethel : and as he was going up by the 
way, there came forth little children out of 
the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, 
Go up, thou bald head ; go up, thou bald 
head. And he turned back, and looked on 
them, and cursed them in the name of the 
Lord. And there came forth two she-bears 
out of the wood, and tare forty and two 
children of them.' " * 

The little ^irls looked frightened when 
these verses were read, and Malcolm said 
very seriously, 

u Miss Harson, is it wicked to ask why 
God would send bears to kill children just 
for doing a little thing like that?" 

"It was not a 'little' thing, Malcolm," 
replied his governess ; " it was a very 
serious and dreadful thing — no less than 
mocking God himself through his chosen 
servant the prophet Elisha. Disrespect to 

* 2 Kings ii. 23, 24. 



154 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS, 

old acre is never a little thing- but this was 
far more than common disrespect ; and I 
think, too, from the dreadful punishment, 
that we may feel sure there was more in it 
than we can understand. — Elisha's cursing 
the children, Clara, which naturally shocks 
you so, is not to be taken in the ordinary 
sense ; it may even have been done in the 
words of the archangel Michael to Satan : 
1 The Lord rebuke thee/ God may have 
chosen to honor his faithful servant in this 
way, and to show that his ambassadors are 
to be treated with respect for his sake. 
We know at least this much — that, however 
strange and startling God's dealings may 
appear to us, they are right because they 
are his. — What verse have you, Malcolm ?" 

"'He was unto me as a bear lying in 
wait, and as a lion in secret* places.' * Do 
bears lie in wait, Miss Harson ?" 

"Yes; they cannot run very fast, as we 
have seen, and they are apt to come out 
quite suddenly from bushes and rocks, to 
the startled surprise of those whom they 
attack. — Have you another one, Clara?" 

* Lam. iii. io. 



A SAVAGE BEAST. I 55 

Clara read : 

" ' For thou knowest thy father and his 
men, that they be mighty men, and they be 
chafed in their minds, as a bear robbed of 
her whelps in the field/ " * 

" * Chafed,' " said Miss Harson, "means 
irritated, angry ; and the rage of a bear 
robbed of her whelps is proverbial. An 
encounter with such an animal implies great 
danger and almost certain death, for a 
mother-bear does not seem to value her 
own life in the least in protecting her cubs. 
If they are stolen from the den while she 
is away, she will follow immediately on the 
trail of the bold hunter with a deadly pur- 
pose that is not to be turned from its course. 
Many stories are told in illustration of the 
bears self-sacrificing affection for her young, 
but we have already had so many bear- 
stories that I will keep these for our talk 
about the polar bear, which will appear 
among the water-animals, as I should like 
you to remember these singular animals by 
themselves." 

11 I like that," said Edith, with great satis- 

* 2 Sam. xvii. 8. 



156 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

faction, "but I should think animals would 
get drowned in water." 

" We shall see, dear, when we come to 
them, how they manage it. Here is some- 
thing else about the bear. The prophet 
Amos says : 'As if a man did flee from a 
lion, and a bear met him/ * meaning that 
one was as dangerous a beast as the other. 
And, as the prophet tells his readers in the 
first verse of his book that he was ' among 
the herdsmen of Tekoa,' he was likely, in 
watching his flocks, to become well ac- 
quainted with the character of these sav- 
age animals." 

" I'd rather meet a bear than meet a lion," 
said Malcolm, very positively; "I don't 
think he'd be half as bad." 

Clara and Edith seemed puzzled which 
to choose, for their brother's opinion went 
a great way with them ; but they were not 
yet very well acquainted with lions, and 
they did know such dreadful things about 
bears ! 

" I think," said their governess, smiling 
at their earnestness, "that instead of trying 

* Amos v, 19. 



A SAVAGE BEAST. 1 57 

to make a choice between two such un- 
pleasant acquaintances, it will be better to 
hope and pray that we may never encoun- 
ter either." 



CHAPTER VII. 

AN AMERICAN LION. 

IT looks like a great ugly cat with awful 
long legs. I don't like the panther at 
all," said Edith as she looked at a picture 
in a book she held in her hand. 

" People are not generally fond of it, 
dear," replied her governess, with a smile. 
" It is not an endearing animal either in a 
picture or in real life, but it is one of the 
most dangerous wild animals we have in 
America, and therefore we had better make 
its acquaintance before we take up the 
study of those which are found only in for- 
eign countries. Now let us see what any 
of you notice about this panther in the pict- 
ure besides what Edie calls its ' awful long 
legs.'" 

"There are two of them," said Clara, 
"and one looks more like a pussy than the 
other." 

158 



AN AMERICAN LION. 



159 



" That is the female, and her face looks 
quite innocent and kittenish." 

" They both have dreadfully big paws," 




PANTHERS. 



said Malcolm, "and great long tails that 
reach the ground." 

11 Come here, Rose," said Miss Harson as 
that very grown-up kitten rubbed herself 
against her. " Hold out your paws. Do 
you not see how strongly made they are in 
proportion to her size ? — quite as ' dread- 



l6o DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

fully big and strong/ I think, for a little tame 
pussy as the panthers paws are for such a 
great cat as he is." 

" He is really a cat, then ?" said Clara. 
" He certainly looks like a very big, savage 
one. 

" Yes, he is our largest American cat, but 
you will be introduced to several larger 
ones before we finish the subject. Do you 
notice anything else about him ?" 

" He's got a little head," said Edith, 
brightly, "and tiny little sticking-up ears." 

" That is catlike too, for pussy's head 
and ears are small. But those of the pan- 
ther, or puma, are still smaller in compari- 
son with the size of its body. This animal 
has a great many names — panther, puma, 
painter, cougar, American lion, and in South 
America and other tropical regions it is 
called jaguar." 

"I should think it had a great many 
names !" exclaimed Malcolm. "And are 
all these animals, Miss Harson, the very 
same one all the time ?" 

"They vary very little," replied his gov- 
erness, "and their characteristics are the 



AN AMERICAN LION. l6l 

same. The panther is not so large nor so 
heavy an animal as the grizzly bear, but in 
some respects it is even more dangerous. 
It can climb a tree with great rapidity and 
is at home among the topmost branches, 
while its lithe body and powerful muscles 
enable it to spring on its prey from a great 
height or distance. " 

"Are there any panthers in our woods, 
Miss Harson ?" asked Edith, with great 
anxiety. 

" No, dear child," replied Miss Harson, 
drawing her up very close, " nor within hun- 
dreds of miles of our woods. Panthers are 
much scarcer in America than they were 
fifty years ago ; like the Indians, they have 
been driven farther and farther back, and 
now one is scarcely ever seen except in the 
far West or at the extreme North. When 
one is seen, there is such a general turning 
out to hunt and kill it that there is no dan- 
ger of finding any panthers except in the 
wildest and loneliest places." 

"What color are they?" asked Clara. 

"You wish to be sure of knowing one, 
then, when you see it?" laughed the young 
11 



1 62 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

lady. "That is right, dear, and I will de- 
scribe our American lion as well as I can. 
It is of a grayish hue, with white under- 
neath — which is shown in the picture — and 
it measures from six to nine feet in length 
to the tip of the long tail. Naturalists 
often describe it as of ' a tawny, yellowish 
brown, sometimes having a gray or silvery 
shade, on the upper parts and sides/ but 
many of these animals are quite dark with 
a reddish tinge. Back of the ears and on 
each side of the muzzle there is a black 
patch, and the end of the tail, which thick- 
ens and then tapers suddenly, is also very 
dark. The baby-panthers are born spotted 
with dusky brown and have dark rings on 
their tails. These marks gradually fade, 
and quite disappear before the animal is 
fully grown. The panther is more like a 
lion — hence his name of * American lion ' — 
while his South American brother, the jag- 
uar, is a near relation of the tiger. ( As a 
rule, all the cat tribe are brindled, spotted 
or striped, except in a very few instances, 
such as the lion and the puma, and even in 
these there are signs of markings in their fur, 



AN AMERICAN LION 1 63 

especially when young, at which time the cubs 
of both the lion and the puma exhibit mark- 
ings, those of the lion being striped, and those 
of the puma both striped and spotted/ ' 

'• How pretty they must be !" said Clara. 
"Just like kittens/' 

"I wish we could find some little ones," 
said Edith, "and keep 'em till they grow 
big. Do you know 7 about any, Miss Har- 
son, that somebody caught when they were 
little?" 

"Oh yes," was the amused reply; "we 
shall come to that presently. I am going 
to tell you about a lady who had a young 
panther to take care of, but not a very * lit- 
tle ' one. First, however, we will get better 
acquainted with the animal in its wild state. 
It is very strong, as you can see from its 
thick limbs as shown in the picture, and it 
has glaring green eyes, very much like pus- 
sy's, only that the panther's seem fairly to 
blaze. ' It is essentially an arboreal animal ' 
— which means living in trees — ■ and con- 
trives so to assimilate itself to the bark of 
the branches that in spite of its large size 
it can lie concealed along a bough. Even 






164 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

in captivity, when the spectator knows that 
the creature is in the den, he has often some 
difficulty in discovering the puma, as it lies 
either packed up in the fork of a branch or 
stretched along it quite flat with its chin 
resting on its fore paws and only by an oc- 
casional blink of the eyelids or twitch of 
the ears giving signs of life/ The panther 
is found both in hot countries and in 
cold ; and when roaming at large, he is a 
very savage and destructive animal. His 
claws are large and hooked, and, being of 
a clear, half-transparent yellow, they are 
quite ornamental on the neck of an Indian 
chief. They have always been considered 
a particularly elegant decoration among the 
red men, and they meant that the person 
who wore them had risked his life to kill 
the original owner. Only the strongest and 
bravest of the tribe could do this, as in the 
case of the bear-claws, and a necklace of 
panther-claws was, therefore, a great dis- 
tinction. It is said that a hunter among the 
Adirondacks once discovered, while follow- 
ing some deer-tracks over a light fall of 
snow, that a pair of large panthers had 



AN AMERICAN LION. 1 65 

been hunting him for miles, and, remember- 
ing the sly nature of these animals and 
their fondness for lying in ambush, he ex- 
pected to see a pair of coal-like eyes in al- 
most every bush he passed." 

"And did the panthers catch him? ,, asked 
Malcolm, in great excitement. 

"No," replied his governess; "he got 
off without even seeing the savage creat- 
ures. But another hunter was not so for- 
tunate. A panther leaped along at his 
side, screaming fearfully and jumping as far 
as twenty yards at a time." 

"Then the panther must have gone on 
and left him," said Clara, "for a man 
couldn't go as fast as that." 

Malcolm laughed at his sister's prompt- 
ness, and Miss Harson said with a smile, 

" That is quite true, Clara, and they could 
not have been side by side for any great 
distance. It was discovered on the next 
day that this panther had just killed and 
eaten a fox, and he was not ready to dine 
again immediately. That fox probably saved 
the man's life." 

" What did the panther scream for, Miss 



l66 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

Harson ?" asked Edith. "Was he fright- 
ened ?" 

" No, dear ; he does not scream at all 
when he is frightened. It is an ugly way 
that he has when he thinks he hears an- 
other panther or when he wishes to see 
one, and his cry is one of the most hor- 
rible that can be imagined. It is said to 
sound like the shriek of a woman in orgeat 
distress, and once a farmer heard a pan- 
ther pass across his grounds in the night, 
screaming, as he said, 'like a demon/ On 
another night, not long after this, some men 
who were at work near by heard, as they 
supposed, a panther screaming on the hills. 
The little hamlet was aroused, guns were 
fired, horns blown and drums beaten to 
scare the beast away. But in the pauses 
of the din was heard that long-drawn, fear- 
ful cry, only to be drowned by a more deaf- 
ening uproar. Again and again the people 
paused, with hair on end, to listen, and the 
cry came clear and terrible, till, at length, 
one man turned a white face to his com- 
rades. ' It is a .woman !' he exclaimed, 
'and she says, "We want help." Sure 



AN AMERICAN LION. 167 

enough, it was a woman, and a party going 
up the hilly road with lanterns found her 
sitting on the edge of a bank over which 
her tipsy husband had driven his horses, 
which now lay in a heap at the bottom of 
the ravine. Strangely enough, nobody was 
hurt — not even was the precious whisky- 
bottle broken." 

"Wasn't that dreadful," said Clara, "to 
think that a poor frightened woman was a 
panther, and to try to drive her away like 
that?" 

" She had a very narrow escape, cer- 
tainly," replied her governess, " but she 
did escape, and perhaps the great danger 
made a sober man of the miserable hus- 
band. — Here is something, Malcolm, about 
a hunter who had a terrible night with a 
panther. I am sure you will like to hear 
the story." 

Malcolm was all attention immediately, 
and, having been told in answer to their 
question that the man was not killed, Clara 
and Edith drew close together for a sort 
of fearful enjoyment. 

"This hunter, it seems, was in Colorado, 



1 68 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS, 

close upon the Rocky Mountains, and he 
had been hunting a herd of deer for hours, 
until night set in before he knew it, and he 
lost his way. After wandering about until 
he was too tired to go any farther, he 
found that he must spend the night in that 
lonely place, and he began to search for 
some spot where he could lie down and 
rest. A rattlesnake frightened him from 
the ground where he was just about to 
throw himself, and his next attempt was 
a large cedar tree with gnarled and twisted 
branches. Having climbed into a conveni- 
ent fork about fifteen feet from the ground 
and arranged himself and his rifle for the 
night, the hunter heard a soft tread below, 
and presently made out in the gloom a 
long, dark object close to the ground and 
advancing to the tree. While wondering 
what it was a strange, terrible yell rang out 
upon the air and echoed among the hills, 
proclaiming the fact that the intruder was a 
panther, and that it had discovered its intend- 
ed prey. The blazing eyes could be plainly 
seen, and, aiming at them, the hunter fired. 
A howl and a moan and low, snarling cries 



AN AMERICAN LIOX. 1 69 

showed that the creature was wounded, 
but the man tried in vain to see where it 
was that he miodit fire a second shot. 

"Presently there was a sound of strong 
claws tearing at the bark of the cedar tree, 
and, looking down, the hunter encountered 
the burning eyeballs again as the panther 
made his way up the slanting trunk of the 
cedar. He was wounded, but not disabled, 
and in a terrible rage he was making his 
way toward his adversary. In great excite- 
ment, the hunter thrust his rifle into the an- 
imal's face, but his hold on the tree gave 
way, and in trying to regain it he dropped 
his trusty friend, which went down, down, 
with a faint ringing sound at the last which 
proved that the cedar tree was on the edge 
of a high precipice from which he himself 
might easily fall. 

"Again the panther yelled, and his glar- 
ing eyes came closer. The hunter had 
nothing now but his knife, which had often 
done good service, and, drawing this weap- 
on, he clutched it tightly and climbed as 
far up the tree as he dared, for it began to 
bend beneath his weight. A heavy storm 



170 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

was coming on, and flashes of lightning 
showed the savage animal dragfsfinor himself 
upward and tearing the tree with his claws. 
Only a single branch now kept him from 
his prey, and the man could see his gleaming 
teeth and feel his hot breath. 

" Suddenly a hurricane broke over the 
scene with such violence that great trees 
were torn up, and the cedar with its living 
freight bent and swayed over that dreadful 
gulf below. The hunter clung frantically to 
his one support, and the panther, perfectly 
still, crouched before him. There man and 
beast remained all through that fearful 
night, the panthers gleaming eyes turned 
upward and his long body stretched out 
on the limb. There was no movement of 
either until dawn, although the storm 
had ceased in about two hours. 

" Unable to endure his dreadful position 
any longer, the hunter began to let himself 
carefully down to attack the panther, but 
as he approached him and raised the glit- 
tering knife he found that he w r as stiff and 
dead. A flying branch had struck him dur- 
ing the terrible storm and broken his back, 



AN AMERICAN LION. 171 

killing him instantly, while the strong claws, 
which were driven into the bark of the tree, 
had kept him from falling. ,, 

11 O — h !" was the general exclamation 
of relief. 

" What a glad man that hunter must have 
been !" added Malcolm. 

"And a grateful man, it is to be hoped," 
said Miss Harson, " for his wonderful es- 
cape from three such dangers as a rattle- 
snake, a hurricane on the edge of a preci- 
pice and a panther." 



CHAPTER VIII. 

A SAVAGE PET, AND A SOUTH AMERICAN 
COUSIN 

MISS HARSON," asked Edith, very 
earnestly, " do little panthers get 
real tame and nice like kittens ?" 

" They are said to, dear, if taken when 
very young, but I do not think I should care 
to try one. Writers speak of their being 
very playful, and purring like a cat when 
they are caressed. An English gentleman 
had tamed one of these animals ; it followed 
him about like a dog and was so very gen- 
tle that it was allowed to appear when 
there were visitors, like any other domes- 
tic pet." 

"I wouldn't fancy that," said Clara; "I'd 
go right home again if a panther came into 
a house where I was visiting. — Wouldn't 
you, Miss Harson ?" 

" Perhaps not," was the reply, " if I saw 

172 



A SAVAGE PET. 173 

that it really was tame, but I should not feel 
quite easy. I will read you the story that 
I promised of a lady's experience with a 
panther which she tried to tame, but the 
animal evidently hadn't a gentle disposition. 
It is part of an account of her various pets 
written some time ago by Mrs. Swisshelm 
for Wide Azvake : 

11 ' Tom was as pretty a creature as ever 
any one need wish to see, and so interest- 
ing ! Tom was a favorite throughout the 
whole neighborhood, and had so many 
callers and admirers that we were all 
thrown in the shade. Tom loved poultry 
and pigs and lambs as well as any one, but 
he would eat them before they were cooked ; 
nay, he would have them before they were 
half grown. No matter what was said, he 
ate them just the same, feathers, fur and 
all. 

" ' Perhaps it is not strange that I failed 
to make a gentleman of Tom, for he was a 
very lively young panther almost a year old 
and full six feet long when I saw him first. 
If I had taken him young and before his 
habits were formed, I might have made 



174 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

something more of him. As it was, the 
only change that ever came to Tom was 
that every day he grew older, larger and 
worse, could eat more pigs and chickens, 
and more of a great many other things. 
u * Tom had a small house all to himself 
which stood in a corner by the great stone 
chimney just outside the house, so that he 
and I lived under the same roof most of the 
time for nearly three years and got pretty 
well acquainted. He wore a strong leather 
collar, and was fastened to his house by a 
chain six feet long, so that he could step out 
and take the air. His master thought him 
a beauty and never wearied of his tricks. 
He could not understand why people should 
be afraid of him, and said that pigs and 
poultry ought to keep out of the way. It 
was a small way, for his entire domain was 
a semicircle of six feet across, while the 
pigs and poultry had free range of so much 
space that there was no excuse for their 
trespasses on Tom's ground. This was all 
true, but I had no more success in educating 
the pigs and the chickens than in training 
Tom himself. There the cunning rascal 



A SAVAGE PET. 175 

would lie in wait for them, his green eyes 
all ablaze and his body still as a log — all 
but the tip of the tail, which would wag, 
wag, back and forth, until some silly creat- 
ure came within reach, and that was the last 
of it. 

" ' But Tom never did want to catch any- 
thing so much as a child, no matter what 
child. The sight of one drove him frantic, 
and oh, so many children came or were 
brought to see him ! I do not think my 
heart has ever quite recovered from the 
standstills it used to have those three long- 
years when it so often seemed probable that 
Tom would catch a child. 

" 'There never was a day of Tom's life in 
which I would not have paid any one to kill 
him, but people thought me cruel. No one 
else wanted the pretty creature killed, and 
every one but his master was too much 
afraid of him to attempt his life. I really 
do not think there was a man in that part 
of the country who would have dared to 
shoot at Tom as he stood chained in his 
corner by the old stone chimney. His mas- 
ter had taken him when he was quite a kit- 



176 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

ten, and thought he might be trained and 
taught to be as harmless as he was beauti- 
ful. He had heard of a farmer who kept 
a panther for a watchdog — of one that used 
to play with the children and was as gentle 
as a lamb. He had been training Tom a 
long time, and had perfect control over him 
— when he struck him behind the ear. 
He was often away from home ; so I con- 
cluded that / had better train Tom. 

" ' I had read about the man who took 
a thorn out of a lion's foot and lived with 
him in peace ever after ; I knew that a 
very lovely young lady named Una had 
once a lion that was a great comfort to her ; 
I knew that 

" '"Little deeds of kindness, little words of love, 

Make this world an Eden, like the heaven above." 

After turning it all over in my mind, I con- 
cluded that maybe Tom and I might come 
to another edition of Mary and her lamb. 
It would be delightful to know that thou- 
sands of happy children were repeating 

" ' "A lady had a panther large ; 

His coat was striped and gray ; 



A SAVAGE PET. 1 77 

And everywhere the lady went 

That panther led the way. 
He went with her to church one day 

To guard his mistress dear ; 
And when he lay down in the aisle, 

The people thought it queer. 

" ' " The sexton came to tarn him out : 
He uttered cries of woe ; 
He would not leave the lady's side, 
Because he loved her so. 
* There, there ! ' the gentle preacher said; 
' O sexton, cease ! 'Tis vain ! 
'Tis love that makes the creature cry : 
The record now is plain.' " 

That would be a reward of merit worth 
striving for: Tom and I would be put in a 
book beside Mary's lamb and Mary ; so I 
went to work in o-ood earnest to teach this 
cruel, wicked world its duty toward pan- 
thers. 

" ' For months I petted Tom and fed Tom 
and talked to Tom. Every day I stroked 
Tom's head and shook his paw, and — and 
stroked his head and shook his paw and 
fed him and talked to him. That was all 
I could do. He did not get a thorn in his 
foot, so I could render him no service of 
that sort, but I did think, and everybody 
12 



\y8 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

else thought, I was making good progress 
in taming him. He winked when I put my 
hand on his head, and we all remarked 
that he looked wise. He minded when I 
spoke, or we felt that he did. I have no 
doubt to this day but he heard every word 
I said to him, for his hearing was excellent. 
He ate all the bread and butter I gave him, 
all the mashed potatoes when there was 
plenty of fresh eggs and milk in them. He 
took pap enough from dishes I brought to 
have fed a dozen hungry children, compli- 
mented me by approving of my blanc mange y 
devoured cooked meat with a relish and 
behaved most obligingly, for I could not let 
him have raw meat, as it would make him 
savage. He bore this interference with his 
tastes in an exemplary manner all day, con- 
soling himself with a chicken or a dog or a 
pig when opportunity offered; but when 
evening came and the sun was down, he 
made us understand that he would like to 
do his own marketing. He would walk 
back and forth the length of his chain, lash 
his long tail, raise his head proudly, sniff the 
air and give such a shriek as would make 



A SAVAGE PET. 1 79 

the valleys ring, stop to listen, as if expecting 
an answer, stretch his head forward, then 
start to run, be suddenly checked, raise his 
head again, gnash his teeth and pant till the 
foam hung on his lips. 

" 4 Tom's eyes were always green and 
fiery when excited. At night they glowed 
like live coals ; one could see them shining 
in the dark when one could not see him, 
or anything else. The darker it was, the 
brighter his eyes burned and glowed. 

"'But during- those months when I was 
educating him he did seem to mind me all 
day. While thus progressing in his favor, 
and when not afraid to go close up to him, 
I was thrown from a carriage, badly hurt, 
brought home and kept in bed six weeks. 
When able to go on crutches, the very first 
time I stepped out of doors I went to see 
Tom, for I wanted to keep some control 
over him. I went quite near before I saw 
that Tom did really love me ; he loved me 
very much — so much that he intended to 
eat me. 

" ' He was lying on his side when I 
passed the corner, and rose when he saw 



l8o DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

me, as if to say, " Good-morning !" He 
then lay down flat, his head on his fore 
paws, his hind legs under him, his tail 
stretched out straight. He kept perfectly 
motionless — all but about four inches of 
the point of his tail, which moved back 
and forth like a pendulum. I knew what 
that meant, but was within his reach before 
I realized the danger. I had heard that a 
panther would not jump while looking into 
a human eye. He looked steadily enough 
into mine. I must not flinch nor look away. 
How long could I stand there ? Some per- 
son or animal was sure to come along ; and 
if anything moved, that would be his signal. 
I talked to him, and said, "Tom! Tom! 
Poor Tom !" They heard me in the house, 
and thought Tom and I must still be good 
friends, and that he was showing himself 
glad to see me. Sure enough, that was 
exactly what he was doing, for he had not 
yet had his dinner. His eyes every mo- 
ment became greener and more fiery. 
Every moment I was moving my crutches 
cautiously backward ; I had them planted, 
but was afraid to move. 



A SAVAGE PET. l8l 

u ' At last some one was coming ; Tom 
would make his leap, and my only hope 
was to get out of his range. I swung my- 
self back on my crutches, and quite beyond 
them. I felt his hot breath on my face, the 
rush of air against it, and thought he had 
me ; but the chain was too short. His 
leap had been furious, for the sudden jerk 
on the collar threw him against a post He 
clung to this and glared at me, but I w r as 
out of his reach, and concluded then and 
there that I had no special mission for 
taming panthers/ " 

" He was perfectly horrid," said Edith, 
indignantly. 

" I hope they killed him," exclaimed 
Clara. 

" He was only fit for the woods," said 
Malcolm. 

" He was horrid," replied their governess, 
" and he was not killed, but only sent to 
live in the corn-crib, with a new collar and 
chain. But finally he got sick and died a 
natural death, and his skin was stretched 
on sticks and hung in the garret." 

The children were "glad that he got dead 



1 82 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

somehow," and Malcolm asked if panther- 
skins were good for anything. 

"Yes," said Miss Harson ; "they are 
made into rugs and robes, and probably 
are used for other purposes. — And now let 
us see what sort of creature the panther's 
South American cousin is." 

"Well," said Clara as they gathered 
around their governess to examine the 
new picture, " he looks dreadfully wicked 
— worse than the panther/' 

" He is worse, as he is far more ferocious, 
and has been called ' the fiercest creature 
on the whole Western continent.' I think, 
however, that the grizzly bear fully matches 
the jaguar. The color of this charming 
animal varies from black to white, but it is 
usually of a rich tan upon the head, neck 
and body. The upper part of the head 
and the sides of the face are thickly marked 
with small black spots; on the rest of the 
body these spots are curiously arranged in 
rosettes, which are placed lengthwise in 
rows on each side, being heaviest along 
the back. The under part is white marked 
with black streaks. The jaguar is about 



A SAVAGE PET. 183 

the same length as the panther, but it is 
very much thicker. It has short legs and 
a great, broad head, with a most villainous 
expression. Its cry is hoarse and dreadful, 
and at the first sound of it all the other live 
creatures in the South American forest 
tremble. ' The use he makes of his strong 
legs is to jump suddenly on a horse or a 
buffalo — which he frequently surprises at 
its watering-place — to put one paw on the 
back of its neck and the other on its mouth 
or muzzle, and so, giving the head a sud- 
den jerk backward, he breaks the neck and 
kills it in a moment. I believe, however, 
he will not attack a man unless he can find 
no other prey. It is well, for he is as active 
as the panther and can climb trees quite 
easily. He likes to lie at the foot of a tree 
and sharpen his claws by scratching it, as 
you have seen pussy do on the legs of a 
chair when lying on the rug. The jaguar 
lives in the hottest parts of South America, 
and loves the great woods by the side of 
large rivers, which he swims across as easily 
as he can climb a tree, and where he often 
basks upon the bank and pleases himself 



184 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

with catching fish, of which he is very 
fond.' " 

"That's just what he is doing in the 
picture," said Malcolm, " reaching one of his 
horrid paws down to get hold of the poor 
things." 

"Do you think 'his horrid paws' are 
worse than fish-hooks?" asked Miss Har- 
son, with a smile. " No one provides the 
jaguar with a line and rod, so he is obliged 
to do his fishing with what conveniences 
he has. He often goes into the water for 
this purpose, instead of hanging over it on 
a branch, taking the shallow part of a river 
and keeping perfectly still until a fish large 
enough to be worth the trouble shows it- 
self. A sharp blow from the animal's heavy 
paw sweeps the poor fish entirely out of 
the water and lands it on the bank, where 
it flounders and wriggles ; but the jaguar 
pounces on it before it can get back to its 
native element, and either devours it on the 
spot or carries it off for a future meal." 

This all seemed very funny, but the chil- 
dren were still more surprised when their 
governess told them that the jaguar not 



1 86 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

only goes fishing, but catches turtles and 
eats them. 

"But how can he, when they have such 
hard shells ?" said Clara. 

" He manages in this way: 'The eggs of 
the turtle are laid in the sand. Therefore 
the jaguar comes to the sand too ; and 
when he sees a turtle fairly away from the 
water, he rushes at it and cleverly turns it 
on its back. Having thus rendered the 
creature helpless, the jaguar contrives to 
insinuate his paw between the shells, and 
scrapes out the whole of the interior, cut- 
ting away the muscles as if they had been 
severed with a knife. Then, when he has 
finished the turtle, he takes a turn at the 
eggs, scratching them out of the sandy pit 
where the mother has placed them/ ' 

"Well," said Edie, in great disgust, "I 
should think all the turtles and everything 
would just hate him." 

"They are certainly very much afraid of 
him," was the reply, " and even such a large 
animal as the horse gets wild with fear on 
the approach of a jaguar. It seems to 
know that the ferocious beast is strong 



A SAVAGE PET. 1 87 

enough not only to kill it, but to drag it 
away for some distance. A jaguar has 
been seen to seize a dead horse and swim 
with it across a broad river, then to drag 
it up the bank and rush off into the woods 
with it." 

"And does he eat people too?" asked 
Malcolm. 

"Not very often, I believe," said Miss 
Harson, " yet he has been known to do it ; 
and people who meet a jaguar always ex- 
pect to be killed unless they can kill him. 
It is said that a jaguar that has once tasted 
human flesh always prefers it to any other. 
This animal is very fond of monkeys, which 
abound in the South American forests 
where the jaguar lives, and there is often 
an exciting chase among the branches 
when the terror of the thickets sets out to 
do his marketing. That hoarse, horrible 
cry starts all the monkeys on a run, and 
they jump and chatter, fairly beside them- 
selves with terror. A story is told of a 
man who once met a jaguar quite unex- 
pectedly in his path, and stood still in 
amazement looking at the animal, while 



1 88 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

the animal looked at him. He never could 
tell why he did it, but, suddenly taking off 
his hat, he bowed low to the jaguar and 
wished it a very good morning. The creat- 
ure evidently did not know what to make 
of this extraordinary politeness, and pres- 
ently it turned round and walked away/' 

"Oh," said Clara, with wide-open eyes, 
"is that really true, Miss Harson ?" 

" I cannot tell you, dear," replied the 
young lady, "that it is, but it might be, for 
savage beasts are uncertain creatures, and 
not always to be depended on for evil. A 
poor woman, though, had not so fortunate 
an escape as this man. She and her hus- 
band were settlers in some wild region, 
where they lived in a hut that had a small 
opening near the top to give them light 
and air when the door was shut. This win- 
dow without glass was so high up that the 
settlers did not think it necessary to close 
it when they went out. But a piece of 
freshly-killed venison was hung up inside 
of the hut, and a hungry jaguar that was 
prowling around soon sniffed it out. Up 
he scrambled at the end of the dwelling, 



A SAVAGE PET. 1 89 

and jumped in through the opening. There 
was no one in the way, and he began to 
devour the meat with great satisfaction ; 
but the owners returned suddenly, and the 
jaguar departed. 

" Having taken away the venison, the 
man supposed that there was no danger 
of a second visit from the animal, and, 
having to go on a distant journey, he left 
his wife alone in the hut. But the jaguar 
did come back that very night, and climbed 
in as he had done before. The frightened 
woman screamed with all her mio-ht and 
made all the dreadful noises she could 
think of, until the animal fairly ran off. But 
he might be expected again at any moment, 
and the question was what to do when he 
came. There was at hand a larg-e chest that 
fastened with springs, and the woman got 
into this and pulled down the lid, but she 
had to keep a crack open with her fingers, 
or she would have been smothered. She 
had scarcely done this before the jaguar 
was in the room, and he had not been there 
long before he discovered that there was 
something good to eat in that long box. 



I90 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

" The dreadful visitor— or, rather, bur- 
glar — tried to get his head into the chest, 
but the lid would not move, not even far 
enough to push a paw through. Then he 
found that he could lick the woman's fin- 
gers with his rough tongue, and, although 
they soon began to bleed, the poor prisoner 
dared not move them lest the spring-lock 
of the chest should close and prevent her 
from ever getting out alive. Presently the 
jaguar jumped upon the lid, and completely 
broke the poor wounded fingers with his 
weight. Still they kept their hold of the 
lid, and the horrid animal jumped off and 
on and smelled around the chest and licked 
the ends of the fingers. At last he gave it 
up and went off, and the woman ran to the 
nearest neighbor s house for help. When her 
husband returned and heard her story, he 
resolved to have that jaguar, dead or alive, 
and on going to hunt for him he found a 
whole family at housekeeping in a forest 
close to the hut. You may be very sure 
that he took great pleasure in killing them 
all." 

"I wish he'd killed every one in the 



A SAVAGE PET. I9I 

world," exclaimed Edith, in her intense 
sympathy for "the poor woman," and this 
seemed to be the general feeling. 

11 You will scarcely believe, after this 
story," said Miss Harson, " that when the 
jaguar is young it is as playful as a kitten 
and ready to frolic with anything that comes 
along, yet this is the character given of 
him by naturalists ; and it is said that a 
young jaguar was once lying quietly at the 
mouth of its den when a hunter set his dogs 
upon it. 'The animal, that had just made 
a hearty meal, and was in great good-humor 
in consequence, instead of annihilating the 
dogs and springing upon their master, be- 
gan to play with them in spite of their at- 
tacks. The hunter, however, meant to en- 
rich himself with a jaguar-skin ; so he 
roused the lazy animal by a bullet in the 
shoulder. The play was instantaneously 
changed to rage, and the animal sprang so 
quickly upon his assailant that, although the 
hunter had a spear ready in rest, the impetus 
of the animal was so great that it transfixed 
itself on the weapon and fairly knocked the 
man over. The two rolled on the ground 



I92 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

together, and the jaguar all but succeeded 
in seizing its enemy's throat, when just at 
the critical moment the fire in the animal's 
eyes went out, and it fell upon the hunter 
quite dead.' " 

"What a shame," said Clara, "when the 
poor thing only wanted to play!" 

"And next time," replied her brother, 
" he'd ' only want ' to make a meal of you." 

"They are rather dangerous playmates," 
added their governess, "but jaguars are not 
all equally fierce and cruel. A very com- 
ical one came out of a forest once on the 
banks of the Orinoco, and went up to two 
children who were sitting just beyond an 
Indian village, and began a variety of tricks 
like a large-sized kitten. He hid himself 
in the long grass and ran and jumped all 
around the little Indians ; then he ap- 
proached the boy and patted him on the 
side of the head. The child was not afraid 
of him and rather liked his pranks, but at 
length the jaguar's claws scratched him 
and the blood began to flow. The animal 
evidently did not intend this, but the little 
girl took up the branch of a tree that was 



A SAVAGE PET. I93 

lying on the ground and whipped him with 
it. The jaguar did not seem angry, but he 
began to run away when he felt the whip, 
and, catching sight of some grown-up In- 
dians, he bounded off into the forest." 
13 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE KING OF THE FOREST. 

ARE you all ready for a long journey 
l\ this evening ?" asked Miss Harson, 
when her little folks were gathered about 
her. " We shall have to go as far as Africa, 
to hunt an enormous cat that does a great 
deal of mischief there, and here in one of 
Malcolm's books is a picture of the heads 
of two of these immense pussies/' 

" Why, it says ' Lion and Lioness,' " said 
Clara, in surprise. 

"Yes; those are the cats I mean. Do 
they look like those you saw at Central 
Park ?" 

"They look like 'em," replied Malcolm, 
rather doubtfully, "but they're nicer-look- 
ing. 

" Pictures are very apt to flatter animals," 
replied his governess, " but the lion's face 

194 



THE KING OF THE FOREST. 1 95 

is very much like that of your friend at the 
Park. The lioness has a very lively air, 
and her head is like that of an immense 
panther/' 

"And are they really cats, Miss Harson ?" 
asked little Edith, who found it hard to be- 
lieve this. 

" Yes, dear ; the lion is the largest of the 
feline race, or Felidae, to which the cat be- 
longs, and all these animals are handsome, 
graceful and wonderfully active. At the 
head of them all is the great animal so often 
called 'the noble lion/ He has a large 
face, an immense head, a shaggy mane and 
a long tail with a tuft at the end, as you all 
perfectly remember. Can you tell me the 
color of the lions we saw?" 

"Tawny," replied Clara, promptly. "Nei- 
ther brown nor yellow, but between the 
two." 

" You remember the great, strong-looking 
paws," continued her governess, "and, hav- 
ing seen them, you can more readily be- 
lieve that a stroke from one of them is suf- 
ficient to break the back of a horse. The 
elastic cushion under each toe enables the 



I96 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

lion to step so quietly that his approach is 
not heard even by those who are listening 
for it. Pussy, you know, treads just as softly, 
as her feet are formed in the same way. 
The lion's dreadful claws are hooked like 
an eagle's bill; and when he has seized 
his prey he cannot be shaken off. ' His 
tongue, as is the case with other feline ani- 



mals, is furnished with a set of reversed 
prickles something like a cat's claws in 
shape, and so large and strong that they 
are capable of lacerating the skin — that is, 
of tearing it and making it bleed — if he 
does but lick it/ " 

"That's what the horrid jaguar did," said 
Edie. 



THE KING OF THE FOREST. 1 97 

" Yes ; he belongs to the same family and 
has many of the same characteristics. — 
Malcolm, what do you notice about the 
teeth which are shown so plainly in this 
head of a lioness ?" 

" They are very queer-looking, I think — 
long and sharp. How they stand up, like 
spikes !" 

" Just like pussy's, only on a much larger 
scale. Hear what a naturalist says about 
them : 4 The teeth are arranged in a man- 
ner beautifully adapted to the predatory life 
which they lead. All the teeth are sharp, 
the canine teeth being curiously long and 
pointed. This structure causes the peculiar, 
pecking-like motion with which the Felidae 
eat their food, because they have no flat 
grinder-teeth between which the food can 
be ground as in a mill, the sharp teeth with 
which they are furnished acting only as the 
teeth of a carding-machine and tearing the 
food into strips. The size of the canine 
teeth is very deceptive. No one who has 
not seen the canine teeth of a full-grown 
lion taken out of their sockets can have 
any idea of their real size. They form a 



I98 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

good handful and are extremely heavy, 
leading those who see them for the first 
time to mistake them for small elephant or 
walrus tusks.' " 

" I wish we'd seen that nice lion's teeth 
when we were at the Park," said Malcolm, 
"but he didn't seem to show 'em much 
even when he opened his mouth." 

" Probably they had become worn," re- 
plied Miss Harson, " but we can get a very 
good idea of them from this description." 

"What do they have those whiskers 
for?" asked Clara. " Can they do anything 
with them?" 

"I think," replied her governess, "that I 
explained their use in the talk about cats, 
but there is a very good explanation of 
them here : ' The long, stiff bristles on each 
side of the mouth, called "whiskers," are 
each joined at their base to a large nerve, 
and consequently become delicate organs 
of touch whose probable use is to indicate 
to the animal any obstacle which the dark- 
ness of night might render invisible, and 
which, if agitated, might rouse the wary an- 
imals whom it was attempting to approach 



THE KING OF THE FOREST. 1 99 

by stealth. Some think that the whiskers 
serve as graugres to ascertain the width of 
any aperture through which the animal 
wishes to pass/ " 

" Miss Harson," said the little girl, in a 
puzzled tone, " doesn't it almost seem as 
if God really helped all these dreadful ani- 
mals to hurt and kill other animals and 
people ?" 

"Yes, dear," was the reply; "it does 
seem so when we look at it in that way. 
But we must not forget that ' these dreadful 
animals ' are just as much God's creatures 
as the harmless, gentle ones or we our- 
selves are, and that when he grave them life 
he also gave them the means to support it. 
They act according to their natures and 
the powers they have, but it is to man only 
that the Creator has given an intelligence 
that can subdue the most powerful of these 
savage creatures. Powerful as they are, 
they never come to make war on us : it is 
we who intrude into their haunts ; and they 
are prevented by God's providence from 
overrunning the world, which it seems to 
us they might easily do. Let us remember, 



200 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

then, how much we owe to God's tender 
care over us, and repeat with thankful 
hearts the beautiful hymn : 

" ' God shall charge his angel-legions 

Watch and ward o'er thee to keep, 
Though thou walk through hostile regions, 
Though in desert-wilds thou sleep. 

" * On the lion, vainly roaring, 

On his young, thy foot shall tread, 
And, the dragon's den exploring, 

Thou shalt bruise the serpent's head. 

" l Since with pure and firm affection 
Thou on God hast set thy love, 
With the wings of his protection 
He will shield thee from above. 

" ' Thou shalt call on him in trouble : 
He will hearken, he will save, 
Here for grief reward thee double, 
Crown with life beyond the grave.' " 

" I have always liked that hymn," said 
Malcolm, " and it seems prettier than ever 
while we are hearing about lions." 

" It is taken from the ninety-first psalm, 
of which some of the very words were 
quoted by Satan when he tempted our 
blessed Lord," 

"Can lions run very fast?" asked Edith. 



THE KING OF THE FOREST. 201 

11 No, dear/' replied her governess ; " they 
scarcely ever run at all, although they can 
spring to a great distance. Large and 
heavy as the lion is, his terrible bound on 
his prey is more like flying, and this and 
his tawny color, like that of the sand where 
he walks and crouches, are God's provision 
for his daily food. The animals on which 
he usually subsists — wild asses, antelopes, 
etc. — are very swift, and, as they have also 
a delicate sense of smell, they can scent 
their huge enemy at a great distance. This 
sends them scattering in all directions in 
the wildest terror when they find themselves 
in the neighborhood of a lion, and to secure 
one of the fugitives he has only to crouch 
low, ready for a spring, on the ground which 
is so nearly his own color." 

"I should think such a big animal could 
be seen when he is among trees," said 
Clara, " as from these pictures I suppose he 
sometimes is. What does he do then, Miss 
Harson ?" 

11 He crouches down just the same, and 
keeps perfectly quiet beside the stream 
where he knows that the animals he wants 



202 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS, 

will come to quench their thirst. Down 
troop the pretty deer and antelopes, full of 
life and playfulness, wetting their feet in 
the water and drinking it with eager delight, 
while just within a thick bush, or screened, 
perhaps, by a small rock, lurks the tawny 
prowler who is lying in wait for them, so 
still, so patient, never moving his eyes from 
the possible meal before him. ' Little do 
they know how terrible an enemy is watch- 
ing their every movement. They toss their 
graceful antlers in the air and bathe their 
slender limbs in the runlet, while still the 
lion waits and watches. But now one of 
them in his careless freedom has advanced 
within reach of the destroyer's spring. A 
moment's preparation, and, with a sudden 
bound and an awful roar, he springs upon 
his victim, and bears him to the earth 
crushed and incapable of motion. The ter- 
rified herd dart away among the woody 
coverts and leave him to banquet upon his 
victim/ " 

"How dreadful that is!" said Malcolm. 
" It must be horrible for the poor deer or 
antelope to be killed in that way." 




LION AND DEER. 



204 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

" It is said not to be," was the reply, " be- 
cause the terror produces a sort of stupor 
that deadens all sense of feeling in the 
smaller animal. And here is another mer- 
ciful provision of our heavenly Father, who 
cares for his most insignificant creatures. 
A traveler and missionary — Dr. Livingstone 
— on whom a lion sprang was seized by the 
shoulder and dragged to the ground. He 
says, ' Growling horribly close to my ear, 
he shook me as a terrier dog does a rat. 
The shock produced a stupor similar to that 
which seems to be felt by a mouse after the 
first shake of the cat. It caused a sort of 
dreaminess in which there was no sense of 
pain nor feeling of terror, though quite 
conscious of all that was happening. The 
shake annihilated fear and allowed no 
sense of horror in looking round at the 
beast/ " 

" Wasn't he killed ?" asked the children, 
in great excitement. 

11 The lion was," said their governess, 
smiling at the question, " but not the man, 
or he could not have told the story. His 
arm was dreadfully crunched, though, and 



THE KING OF THE FOREST. 205 

there were eleven teeth-wounds in the up- 
per part of it. The knowledge that a per- 
son can be killed by a savage animal with- 
out suffering any pain was rather dearly 
bought." 

" Yes," said Clara, so wisely that her re- 
mark was greeted with a general laugh; 
"I'd rather not know." 

"Sometimes/' continued Miss Harson, 
" a man who has been seized by a lion es- 
capes in the same way as from a grizzly 
bear — by pretending to be dead. For this 
powerful animal often attacks people, not 
because he wishes to make a meal of them, 
but because, coming upon them unexpect- 
edly, he is afraid of them." 

"I thought," said Malcolm, "that the lion 
wasn't afraid of anything?" 

11 He is a singular mixture of bravery 
and cowardice. Pussy is always suspicious 
of anything she does not understand, as 
you can see by swinging the most harmless 
object before her, if it is something to which 
she is not accustomed, and the king of all 
the cats has just the same trait. He is very 
suspicious, and sometimes even cowardly, 



206 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

and, strange as it may seem, this feeling of 
cowardice will lead him to attack a man to 
prevent his being attacked himself. There- 
fore, if his victim has the presence of mind 
to keep perfectly still so long as the lion is 
within sight, he will seldom seriously injure 
him. It must be difficult to keep still while 
one's arm is being crunched, but an English 
captain once did this, and was rewarded by 
having the lion lie down beside him with 
his paws on his breast." 

"Oh!" cried Edie ; "did he keep still 
then ? I'd have screamed and screamed." 

"Yes, dear," said the young lady, with a 
loving kiss; "I am quite sure of it. Prob- 
ably any of us would. But this brave cap- 
tain, who was accustomed to-danger, was 
very different from a timid little girl, and 
he made no resistance to his sociable friend. 
Without thinking, though, he happened to 
raise his hand, when the animal seized his 
arm again with his teeth and crunched away 
at it afresh. Then both were still again, 
until some friends of the wounded man 
appeared and with a well-directed bullet 
killed the lion." 



THE KING OF THE FOREST. 207 

11 How glad he must have been !" ex- 
claimed Clara. 

" Who ? The lion ?" asked her brother, 
mischievously. 

Then Edith added, with very wide eyes, 

" Why, how could the lion be glad ? Be- 
sides, he was dead, you know/' 

Everybody was laughing now, but poor 
little Edie felt quite puzzled until Miss Har- 
son drew her up close and whispered some- 
thing in her ear. Then her face too beamed 
with smiles as she said quite triumphantly, 

" I know all about it now. It was the 
man that was glad." 

" You funny little darling !" said Malcolm, 
with a sort of bear-hugr "I'm glad that it 
wasn't you." 



CHAPTER X. 

THE LION AT HOME. 

MISS HARSON," said Clara, -do 
lions always live in Africa? 

"Not always/' was the reply, "for they 
are also found in Asia ; but African lions 
are the largest and finest-looking. They 
abound in both Northern and Southern 
Africa, and they are the terror of the Arabs 
in the north and of the Hottentots in the 
south of that * Dark Continent* " 

"They live in dens, don't they?" asked 
Malcolm. " I s'pose they're dreadful-look- 
ing places — full of bones and things." 

"That is quite a mistake," said Miss Har- 
son, "as the lion is particular about his res- 
idence and keeps it as neat as possible. 
Instead of being a den, it is a sort of palace 
in the woods or on the mountain, and very 
suitable for royal beasts to live in. The 

208 



THE LION AT HOME. 209 

lion usually chooses for his habitation a 
dense thicket where the scorching sun can- 
not penetrate, and here he has both sum- 
mer and winter apartments. A charming 
bower thickly curtained with tangled boughs 
and vines and carpeted with leaves is his 
resting-place during the long, hot days. 
Then there are deep, dark basements — 
holes, really — half covered with twigs and 
fallen timber, which protect him from storms 
and cold, while near the edge of his thicket 
there is a narrow nook where he lies in 
wait for his prey or watches for his enemy 
the hunter." 

"I like to hear about that," said Edith, 
11 and I'm so olad that lions have nice 
houses !" 

" We should not think them nice to live 
in, Edie, but they are nice for lions, and Mr. 
Tawny-coat keeps his dwelling in excellent 
order. Instead of having bones lying 
around, he will not allow a stone or a stick 
on his carpet, and he seems to take a great 
deal of comfort in his luxurious home. I 
think he does all the work himself, first 
clearing out the ground and getting it in 

14 



2IO DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

order, and then attending to the housework. 
But he cannot be quite happy until he has 
found a wife to share this delightful retreat 
with him, and he always loves her very 
dearly, waits upon her like a slave, and 
kills any one — unless he is killed himself — 
who attacks her. He is less ferocious and 
cruel than the lioness, whom he seems to 
think it is his duty to protect in every way, 
although she is quite able to take care of 
herself." 

" She looks ugly/' said Clara, examining 
the heads again, " and so did those two in 
the cages at the Park. I like the lion 
better/' 

"So do the hunters," replied her gov- 
erness, " who give the lioness a very bad 
character indeed. Her only redeeming 
trait is her devotion to her young ones, of 
whom there are never more than two, and 
often only one. When they are in danger, 
she knows no fear, and will charge upon a 
party of armed men to defend them. She 
appears to care very little for her mate, who 
always gives her the best of everything. 
When he returns from a hunting-expedition 



THE LION AT HOME. 211 

with a dainty animal for dinner, he places 
it before Mrs. Lion, and does not think of 
such a thing as taking a bite, no matter how 
hungry he is, until she has eaten all she 
wants. And she does not seem to think 
of inviting him to feast with her, although 
he sits patiently licking his paws, after all 
the fatigue of catching and killing the 
food." 

"What a selfish thing!" exclaimed Mal- 
colm. "I shouldn't think the lion would 
care anything about her." 

11 He is very fond of her indeed, and, as 
lionesses are scarce compared with lions, 
he thinks it good of her to preside over his 
palace. It seems that young lions suffer 
from teething like human babies, and at 
least half of the females do not live to grow 
up. When the little ones begin to fret and 
cry with their teeth, Papa Lion is very much 
disgusted with the noise they make ; he 
says that it's a hard case if he can't get a 
quiet nap in the daytime, after being hard 
at work all night, and off he goes in high 
dudgeon to get rid of his troublesome 
babies. But he is always near enough to 



212 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

know if his family need him, and, although 
he does not care to associate with them in 
teething-time, no one could attack them in 
their retreat without being speedily con- 
fronted by a huge angry lion. They are 
perfect pests, to be sure, but whoever at- 
tempts to carry them off will not find it an 
easy matter." 

" Does any one want to carry 'em off?" 
asked Edith. 

" Oh yes, dear," replied Miss Harson ; 
" lions' cubs are pretty, playful little creat- 
ures, and will always bring a good price. 
People often take them for pets, and the 
easiest and cheapest way of getting full- 
grown lions for shows is to buy them when 
they are small. It is quite a business with 
the Arabs to capture young lions for sale. 
' They lie in wait near the spot where the 
den of the lioness is supposed to be, and 
wait till they see her go abroad to forage. 
A rush is then made, with good dogs, to the 
den, and the cubs are seized, wrapped in a 
burnoose to prevent their crying, and car- 
ried off. Woe betide the hunters if they 
meet the lioness on their way home ! In- 




A DINNER FOR MRS. LION. 



214 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

stinct tells her what has happened. Reck- 
less of danger, she flies at the nearest man, 
and brings him to the ground maimed or 
killed, then to the next, and so on through- 
out the band until the survivors escape or 
the lioness is killed.' " 

" Poor thing!" said Clara; "she only wants 
her babies. I wish they'd had some at the 
Park when we were there." 

" It does seem as though they might have 
had some for our special enjoyment," was 
the laughing reply, " but it is not very often 
that lions — or, indeed, any wild animals — 
are born in captivity. I will tell you pres- 
ently about some little lions that were born 
in this country. These youngsters are 
much heavier than they look, and even 
when young a playful pat fronva cub's paw 
is something of a blow." 

14 I shouldn't think people would want to 
play with them, then," said Edith. 

44 It is not a safe thing to do, except for 
those who thoroughly understand their 
ways, and fortunately they are not quite so 
plentiful as kittens. But they are affection- 
ate creatures, and do not mean any harm." 



THE LION A T HOME. 2 1 5 

" Don't lions eat anything but animals and 
men, Miss Harson ?" asked Clara. 

" Yes, dear," was the reply ; "they eat a 
great many insects." 

" Well, I should like to see them do that," 
exclaimed Malcolm. M I don't see how such 
great creature can eat insects. Do they 
catch flies with their mouths?" 

11 Not that I am aware of, Malcolm, but 
there are many insects in Africa which 
make a better meal than flies. Among 
them is a large caterpillar which the natives 
eat with great relish, any amount of fat 
ants, and beetles, and perfect giants of 
spiders. Besides all these insects, there 
are frogs nearly as large as chickens ; and 
when dinner-time arrives and no animal has 
obligingly put itself in the way of being 
killed, the hungry lion often makes a good 
meal from the smaller creatures which are 
more easily caught. Sometimes, too, he 
finds part of a carcase that has been left 
by a hunter or by some animal, and a lioness 
w r hich had done much damage among the 
Arabs and their herds of cattle was once 
caught in this way. A famous French hunt- 



2l6 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

er had been watching a long time in the 
woods for her, and almost despaired of ever 
getting a glimpse of her tawny hide. At 
last he saw something moving near the 
body of a horse in the valley below him, 
and there was not only the destructive 
lioness, but her cub also. Both seemed to 
be playing around their meal, and then the 
little one began to eat, but, suddenly per- 
ceiving the hunter seated on a rock above 
them, the mother sprang in a flash to her 
child, seized its back and rushed off with it. 
Having deposited it safely at home, the 
furious animal came deliberately back to 
punish the hunter for giving her such a 
fright, while he was afraid that he had lost 
her altogether. But it is said that a lioness 
that has her young with her will never fly 
from the disturber of her peace, and pres- 
ently the Frenchman heard a slight noise 
near him. ' It was such a noise/ he says, 
'as a mouse would make in running over 
the leaves/ He knew at once what it was. 
and as he looked two large paws, a pair of 
long moustaches and an enormous nose ap- 
peared by degrees ; but when he saw the 



THE LION AT HOME. 2\*] 

red, glaring eyes, he fired. The gun was 
so close to her head that the savage animal 
fell dead at once/' 

" I s'pose," said Clara, " that if the hunter 
hadn't killed her she would have eaten him 
instead of the poor horse." 

"She certainly would," was the reply, 
"as she suspected him of having designs 
on her cub. But if the little one had not 
been with her, she might not have noticed 
him, as she had plenty to eat already. A 
queer story is told by an old writer, who 
lived in England before people knew much 
about the animals in far-away countries, of 
the wonderful sagacity of a lion and the 
affection of both parents for their chil- 
dren : 

" Somewhere in Asia, it seems, a lion and 
a lioness, with their tw T o cubs, had a den in 
a mountain, and a bear, discovering this 
abode, kept her eye on it, hoping to get at 
the young ones. One day both parents 
were absent at once, and, as the cubs could 
not defend themselves, the bear got in and 
killed them both, then ran away and climbed 
up into a tree to be safe from the angry 



2l8 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

lions. When they returned, their lovely 
infants were lying there in their blood, and 
after giving way to their natural sorrow 
they at once resolved to track and punish 
the murderer. The lion probably said to 
his weeping wife, 

" ' I have no doubt, my beloved one, that 
the ugly, clumsy bear whom we drove away 
yesterday from the dead antelope has done 
this out of spite. We cannot help our lost 
darlings by staying here ; let us start out 
and hunt her down. When we find her — ' 

"He did not finish the sentence, but 
grated his long, pointed teeth together with 
a horrible sound, while the eyes of the 
lioness were blazing like green fire with 
fury. They soon scented the bear's track, 
and followed it, savage with rage, until they 
reached the tree. Here they stopped with 
savage growls and roars, and tore wildly at 
the heavy trunk. Then they would run 
back some yards and make the most aston- 
ishing leaps, hoping to get close enough to 
the bear to tear her in pieces. It seemed 
very hard that they could not climb, nor 
reach her in any way, when they felt so 



THE LION AT HOME. 219 

much in need of her, and the bear, feeling 
quite safe in her leafy perch, laughed at 
their attempts and made fun of their sorrow 
for their dead cubs. 

"The poor raging, tormented lions were 
fairly wild with anger and grief, and finally 
the father could no longer stand the sight 
of that provoking bear, but, leaving the 
lioness to watch the tree, he wandered up 
and down their beloved mountain, moaning 
and crying for his murdered children. 
Presently he happened upon a carpenter 
who was hewing wood, and as he saw him 
a sudden plan came into his head. The 
man, seeing a lion coming toward him, gave 
himself up for lost, and his axe fell from 
his hand ; but the animal caressed him gen- 
tly and fawned on him until he persuaded 
him to follow him. 

"The carpenter left his axe where it had 
fallen, but this did not suit the lion, who 
made signs to him to pick it up. Finding it 
impossible to make the man understand what 
he meant, this very intelligent animal went 
back and picked up the axe in his mouth 
and gave it to his companion ; then he led 



220 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS, 

him to his den and showed him the dead 
cubs, and stood as if saying, ' Did you ever 
hear of so wicked and cold-blooded a 
deed ?' 

" Then the man was conducted to the 
tree where the lioness and the bear were 
making faces at each other ; when the be- 
reaved mother, * seeing them both coming, 
as one that knew her husband's purpose, 
signified to the man that he should consider 
of the miserable slaughter of her young 
whelps, and showing him by signs that he 
should look up into the tree where the bear 
was ; which when the man saw, he conjec- 
tured that the bear had done some grievous 
injury to them. He therefore took his axe 
and hewed down the tree by the roots. 
The tree being so cut, the bear tumbled 
down headlong ; seeing this, the two furi- 
ous beasts tore her all to pieces, and after- 
ward the lion conducted the man to the 
place and work where he first met him, and 
there left him without doino- the least vio- 
lence or harm unto him/ " 

"That was a nice lion," said Edith; "I 
like him." 



THE LION AT HOME. 221 

" Yes, dear ; he was very nice indeed — 
on paper; but I think it would scarcely 
be possible to find a real one of that kind. 
Before they knew much about him people 
imagined the lion to be a far nobler and more 
majestic animal than he really is, but now 
those who have become well acquainted 
with him even go so far as to call him ' cru- 
el, treacherous and cowardly/ When a 
lion's lair is discovered, it is considered a 
good time to rid the country of so danger- 
ous an inhabitant; so the natives 'gather 
around the spot and usually climb stout 
trees on the ed^e of the thicket. Then all 
shout together. At the sound the lion 
starts from his sleep. He does not rise 
from the ground, but raises his head and 
listens. In a moment a shot whistles 
through the branches over him. This 
angers him ; he raises one leg and his tail 
orows stiff*. Shall he rush out and wreak 
vengeance on the caitiffs who thus presume to 
disturb his repose in his own den ? Just then 
he remembers that one day long ago he 
was awakened by just such insults, and that 
on rushing out to punish his enemy his skin 



222 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

was perforated in a strange and horribly 
unpleasant manner, and he had hard work 
to limp back to his home. He will lie still. 
He relieves himself by lashing his sides with 
his tail and tearing a tree with his claws/ '" 

"Pooh!" exclaimed Malcolm, scornfully ; 
" that isn't brave. What becomes of him 
then ?" 

" ' Meanwhile, the shouts and shots fly 
thick and heavy. A ball strikes the tree 
against which he leans ; a stone hits him on 
the nose. Convinced that forbearance is 
no longer a virtue, he rushes forth. The 
Arabs have heard him crushing through 
the brushwood, and are ready. The 
moment he appears twenty balls strike 
against his side. Maddened and lost to all 
thought of safety, he sees a hunter in a tree 
close by, and flies at him. The Arab is out 
of reach, and while the lion is crouching at 
the foot of the tree a better shot than usual 
finishes him/ " 

" I think," said Clara, " that the people 
who go after him are braver than the lion." 

"It is said," continued her governess, 
" that lions and other wild animals are not 



THE LION AT HOME. 223 

to be feared in the daytime unless they are 
first provoked, and that when accidentally 
met in the full alare of sunshine the lion 
will stand for a second or two gazing, then 
turn round and walk slowly away for a 
short distance, looking over his shoulder; 
then he begins to trot, and as soon as he 
thinks himself out of sight he bounds off as 
fast as he can cro." 

"Then he is a coward/' said Malcolm. 

" Miss Harson," asked Edith, u do lions 
live a great many years when they ain't 
killed?"' 

"About thirty-five, dear, I believe ; but an 
old lion is quite a miserable animal, because 
his teeth are decayed. He probably has a 
great deal of toothache, which is enough to 
make him roar all the time, and he gets 
thin and starved because he cannot catch 
game as he did. Then he takes to killing 
goats in the villages, and women and chil- 
dren too, when he can get them, and this 
is the only way in which he can pick up 
much of a living. When he is far away 
from any settlement, he catches mice like 
the smaller cats, and any small living objects 



224 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

that come in his way, and he has even been 
known to eat grass. An old lion is very 
different from a young lion ; and when it is 
known that one has carried off goats from 
a settlement, the natives say, ' His teeth are 
worn ; he will soon kill men/ and, feeling 
that there is no time to be lost, they all turn 
out and kill him/' 



CHAPTER XI. 

STORIES ABOUT LIONS. 

EDITH was rather disposed to pity 
" the poor old lion who was killed," 
but, as she could not say that she would be 
willing to furnish a meal for him when there 
were no goats to be had, she agreed that, 
on the whole, it was the safest disposal to 
make of him. 

" Haven't you come to the nice lion-sto- 
ries yet, Miss Harson ?" she asked, with a 
great deal of interest. 

" Yes, dear," replied the young lady. 
" You have all listened so attentively to the 
facts I have told you that, although there 
has been a little sprinkling of stories with 
them, I think you have fully earned the 
hearing of some interesting accounts of 
lions which I have gathered from different 
sources. A portion of these are known to 

15 225 



226 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

be true, while some are as fabulous as that 
queer story of the bear and the carpenter. 

" One of the oldest as well as one of the 
prettiest of lion-stories is in a sort of fable, 
or allegory, called * The Faery Queen/ which 
was written in poetry by Edmund Spenser 
over three hundred years ago. You re- 
member that in the account of 'Tom/ the 
panther, there was mentioned * a lovely 
young lady named Una who had a lion that 
was a great comfort to her/ and this Lady 
Una in the poem is the same one. She was 
the loveliest and the most beautiful lady that 
ever was seen, and the reason of this was 
that in the allegory she was meant to repre- 
sent heavenly truth and purity. 

"This beautiful Una was the daughter of 
a king and a queen who had been captured 
by a terrible dragon and kept in a strong 
prison, which the dragon guarded himself, 
so that they could not possibly escape. 
Sorrowing for her beloved parents and un- 
able to do anything for them herself, sweet 
Lady Una set forth on a pilgrimage to find 
a true and brave knight who would kill the 
wicked monster and release the royal cap- 



STORIES ABOUT LIONS. 227 

tives. Having found at the court of Eng- 
land one who gladly accompanied her on 
her loving errand to the dismal prison, they 
journeyed on very happily, talking as they 
went. But they had not gone far when 
they met an unfriendly magician, who man- 
aged to separate the knight from Una, giv- 
ing him another companion who looked just 
as good and beautiful, but she was really 
false and deceitful. The royal maiden was 
left quite alone, yet she wandered on, gentle 
and sad, seeking for her knight and resolved 
not to give up the search till she had found 
him and persuaded him to go on again with 
her and set her father and mother free. 

" One day, when Una was very tired and 
mournful, the poem says, she alighted from 
her 'unhasty beast' — a milk-white ass — 
and went to lie down under some thick 
trees which shaded her from the noonday 
sun. Here she wept and lamented, yet, in 
spite of her doleful condition, 

" ' her angel's face 
Making a sunshine in a shady place.' 

Suddenly a hungry lion who had watched 



228 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

the movements of his intended prey sprang 
from the adjacent thicket to begin his feast, 
but the sight of that ' angel's face ' changed 
his savage mood to love and pity, and fall- 
ing down at Una's weary feet, he kissed 
them tenderly 'and licked her lily hands 
with fawning tongue.' 

"A huge lion was a very unexpected 
friend to meet with, and at first the young 
lady was probably very much frightened, 
but she soon found that he intended to be 
her devoted slave and protector, and she 
mounted her steed again with fresh hope. 
Very likely the 'milk-white ass' objected 
quite decidedly to traveling in such com- 
pany, for, as we have already noticed, do- 
mesticated animals have a natural terror of 
savage beasts. 

" This truly noble lion watched faithfully 
over his mistress when she slept and waited 
to know her wishes when she awakened — 
as the poem says, ' from her fair eyes took 
commandment.' He acted in all respects 
like a huge devoted dog, driving away all 
who were not worthy to approach the lovely 
lady. 



STORIES ABOUT LIONS. 229 

"Such a magnificent lion should have 
been allowed to spend the rest of his life 
with his beautiful young mistress in her 
father's palace, but, sad to relate, the pret- 
ty story does not end in this manner. As 
the strange but loving pair proceeded on 
their journey a fierce heathen knight en- 
countered them, and succeeded in killing 
Lady Una's four-footed protector, while the 
noble lady herself was carried off into cap- 
tivity." 

The children were in quite a tearful 
condition over this melancholy state of 
things, and Clara eagerly asked if the beau- 
tiful Lady Una never got home again. 

11 The end of the poem was lost before it 
got printed," replied Miss Harson, "but 
there is enough of it to know that Lady 
Una found her knight and got him out of a 
dreadful dungeon into which the false lady 
who took her place had cast him. When 
you are older and able to read the whole 
of this quaint poem with pleasure, you will 
better understand the allegory. It is full 
of beautiful teaching, and the journey of 
the lady and the knight represented 'true 



23O DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

courage and valor led by gentle innocence 
and guileless truth, and giving protection 
while it received guidance. The pretty bit 
about the lion shows us that when manhood 
fails God can make the most dreaded ele- 
ments of nature the ministers of his will. 
He can make use of even savage beasts to 
protect the cause of truth and righteous- 
ness/ " 

"That's splendid!" said Malcolm, thought- 
fully. " It makes what is brave and good 
seem the most beautiful." 

" I am glad to hear you say that, my little 
knight," replied his governess, affectionately, 
" for that is just what such a story ought to 
teach us; and, although I am not the lovely 
Una, I can appreciate a companion with 
such sentiments." 

Malcolm, although somewhat embar- 
rassed, was in a state of quiet delight at 
these words ; and if time and distance and 
fable lent a sort of effulgence to the Lady 
Una which the modern young lady lacked, 
the children had their own opinion about 
the degrees of loveliness, which it was very 
pleasant to read in their eyes. 



STORIES ABOUT LIOXS. 23 I 

Little Edith took it out in a very emphatic 
"snuggling up" as she inquired, after what 
seemed to her a decent interval of rest, 

"Are there any more lion-stories, Miss 
Harson ?" 

"A double handful, dear," was the laugh- 
ing reply, " and I should be glad if they 
were all as beautiful as that of the Lady 
Una. — The lion is, as I have told you, only 
a great cat and a savage beast of prey, but 
some of these stories show that he is oc- 
casionally gifted with a nobler and a better 
nature that triumphs over his savage im- 
pulses and transforms him into a different 
creature. To one person he may show 
only the worst side of his character, and 
to another person quite the opposite; this 
often depends on circumstances and on the 
nature of the person he encounters. 

11 Among the old, old stories about the 
king of beasts, there is one of Androcles, 
a Roman slave who escaped from his mas- 
ter and took refuge in a lonely cave. He 
was thankful for this retreat, because here, 
he thought, he should be quite safe from his 
pursuers; and he stretched his trembling 



232 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

limbs on the dry grass and leaves that car- 
peted the floor, and began to breathe free- 
ly again. But soon his heart was beating 
more violently than ever, for an enormous 
lion had entered the cave and walked slow- 
ly up to him. At first Androcles was par- 
alyzed with fear, but presently he saw that 
the animal held up one paw and looked be- 
seechingly at him. He mustered courage 
to examine the foot, and found a large thorn 
lodged in the fleshy part of it. It took 
some little time to extract the thorn, without 
any instrument, and the lion must have suf- 
fered a good deal ; but he was patient, and 
seemed to encourage his visitor to go on. 
"When the thorn was fairly out, Andro- 
cles had another fright from the lion's jump- 
ing up at him and caressing him with his 
paws, as a great Newfoundland dog would 
have done, to show his gratitude ; but An- 
drocles saw that the lion really meant to be 
good to him, and he soon got accustomed to 
such a queer state of things as visiting a 
wild animal in his castle. The lion brought 
him food and became very much attached 
to him, and they might have lived together 



STORIES ABOUT LIONS. 233 

for a long time had not the poor slave been 
recaptured — probably when he was out for 
an airing-. 

"The cruel laws of ancient Rome con- 
demned the slave to die by fighting un- 
armed with lions ; and, doubtless washing 
himself safe again with the one lion that 
he knew, Androcles stood there in the 
arena, and a large animal bounded toward 
him. But, to the great surprise of the spec- 
tators, instead of tearing the man to pieces, 
the lion fawned upon him with every ap- 
pearance of delight and crouched submis- 
sively at his feet. Androcles then recog- 
nized his friend of the cave, and the people 
who had come to see him killed rose with 
shouts of applause and demanded that he 
should be freed. The lion was also given 
to him, and ever after Androcles and his 
faithful companion were one of the sights 
of Rome, and they received enough money 
from those who went to look at them to 
keep them very comfortably. ,, 

"I s'pose," said Clara, "that they didn't 
go back to the cave ? But how funny to 
see a lion living in a house !" 





234 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

"No funnier, I think, than to see a man 
living in a cave with a lion." 

11 Is that a true story, Miss Harson ?" 
asked Malcolm. 

"It is thought to be a probable one," was 
the reply, "and a naturalist says, in speak- 
ing of it, ' Now, although in these days we 
do not meet people walking about accom- 
panied by lions, such a circumstance not 
having taken place since the days of Nero, 
yet lions do live on most comfortable, and 
even affectionate, terms with those to whom 
they are accustomed, suffering them to take 
liberties which most domestic cats would 
resent. I have seen a keeper knock a lion 
down and then drag him about the cage by 
his ears or pull his tail with exceeding vio- 
lence, and, in fact, offer him all manner of 
insults, to which the lion answered only by 
a self-satisfied kind of purr. While exam- 
ining the beautiful animals with which he 
was playing such tricks I asked the keeper 
if he would cut off a piece of the lion's 
mane for my inspection. I was rather hor- 
rified to see him take hold of the mane and 
actually pull out a respectably sized bunch 



STORIES ABOUT LIONS. 235 

of hair. The lion took not the slightest no- 
tice of the liberty. Two more good-natured, 
affectionate animals cannot be conceived 
than those inhabiting the cage, and many 
were the wishes expressed by the spectators 
to have them as pets.' " 

"That was a wicked, horrid man," ex- 
claimed Edith, indignantly, " to be so cruel 
to those nice lions, and he ought to be shut 
up in a cage himself." 

" I wish he could have his hair pulled 
out," almost sobbed Clara, " and see how 
he likes it." 

"And what do you want done to him, 
Malcolm ?" asked his governess. 

"I'd just like to lay a stout whip across 
his shoulders," began her "little knight" 
in great excitement ; but he stopped short 
in some confusion. 

Miss Harson was looking at her pupils 
with a quiet smile. 

"Do you think," said she, "that these 
rather severe remedies would really make 
this keeper kinder and more considerate to 
his dumb charges?" 

" But he was so ugly," remonstrated 



236 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

Edie — "just hateful. He ought to have 
been a — a jaguar." 

Every one laughed at this novel penalty 
for hatefulness, and the young lady con- 
tinued : 

" If the keeper had been remonstrated 
with, he would probably have said that it 
was because he did treat them in that way 
that the animals were so gentle. All the 
same, I should try to persuade him to do 
differently if I had the opportunity; but 
man and lion are probably not living now. 

" * There was a very small boy who was 
accustomed to go into the den, and who 
seemed to consider the lions as his natural 
playfellows, pushing them down and sitting 
on them without any ceremony. Contrary 
to the habits of most of the Felidae, these 
two gentle lions did not make any disturb- 
ance while feeding, but took their allowance 
— and a very small allowance it appeared — 
as quietly as a well-trained dog. One was 
fed a few minutes before the other, but the 
unfed one did not make a fuss, as might 
have been expected, but waited quietly for 
his turn. The other animals were not 



STORIES ABOUT LIONS. 237 

nearly so patient, for on the first sniff of a 
piece of meat carried by a man along the 
front of the cages the tigers, leopards, 
wolves and hyena began a great outcry, 
and were not to be pacified until they had 
all received their food. 

"' During part of the day the two pet 
lions were engaged in a regular game of 
bo-peep with a young woman belonging to 
the establishment, and they sprang and 
danced about with such agility that it was 
impossible not to wish them a larger cage 
for the exercise of their limbs. No lion in 
a cage can give an idea of the majestic de- 
portment of the animal when in its own 
country, walking free and at large and 
4 monarch of all he surveys;' for between 
the lion and the elephant and the rhinoce- 
ros a kind of mutual compact seems to 
take place that neither shall meddle with 
the other/ " 

The children were sorry that the account 
of these delightful lions had come to an 
end, and Edith asked suddenly, 

" Don't you remember, Miss Harson, 
that nice little story you read us once about 



238 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

a mouse that came and gnawed a lion that 
was tied up, and got him loose ?" 

" He did not gnaw the lion, dear," was 
the laughing reply, " but only the net in which 
the lion was entangled. Yes, I remember 
it quite well, and that the lion and the mouse 
were good friends for ever after. A very 
small dog was once put into a lion's cage for 
him to eat, but he trotted up to the great an- 
imal in a very wag-gy and sociable manner, 
and the lion, not being particularly hungry 
just then, lay there looking at him in a sleepy 
sort of fashion. The dog was a terrier, and, 
spying a mouse in the cage, he speedily 
killed it. A rat shared the same. fate, and 
the master of the house, who had been 
much annoyed by these troublesome intru- 
ders, was quite interested in his new com- 
panion. The little terrier evidently thought 
that he was taking care of the lion, and 
people who went to see them liked to tease 
the small quadruped by pretending to attack 
the large one. Up would fly the little dog, 
as close to the offenders as he could get, in 
a perfect fury of barking, which he kept up 
until he was tired out. Then he returned to 



STORIES ABOUT LIONS. 2$g 

the back part of the cage, and, sitting down 
between the lion's great paws, where he 
could scarcely be seen, he looked around 
as much as to say, 'Try that again, if you 
dare V * 

" I should think the lion would have 
mashed the little dog," said Malcolm, 
" whether he meant to or not." 

"No," was the reply; " he contrived to 
avoid it, and his little friend was cuddled 
close up to him when he slept. Even ani- 
mals as clumsy and heavy as elephants can, 
as we have seen, take the most tender care 
of little children, and large animals in cap- 
tivity often show a fondness for the com- 
pany of small ones. Another lion had in 
the ca^e with him a little do£ who used to 
play the most mischievous pranks with his 
dignified companion, even biting him at 
times; but the lion never resented anything 
that he did, watching all his pranks with the 
indulgence of a fond but weak parent. 
Yet if any one teased, or even threatened, 
the dog, his protector became furious, roar- 
ing and lashing his tail at such a rate that 
people wondered if those bars would hold. 



240 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

Yet, just for the pleasure of seeing him so 
excited, they wouldn't let his little favorite 
alone. One day there was a great com- 
motion in the place. A careless keeper 
had neglected securely to fasten the door 
of the lion's cage, and that tawny gentle- 
man took advantage of the opportunity to 
explore the outside world. What was to 
be done ? No one dared to attempt forcing 
him back again, yet it was dreadful to think 
of the mischief he might accomplish. For- 
tunately, some one thought of the little dog, 
who was curled up asleep in the back part 
of the cage, and began to whip him through 
the bars. The poor little animal howled 
and cried, and at the sound of his distress 
the lion, who was majestically stalking 
about, made a sudden bound for the cage 
and sprang in with flaming eyes to seize 
the offender. A person who had been on 
the watch instantly fastened the door, and 
Master Lion was secured again. Doggie 
had an uncommonly nice dinner that day, 
and forgot all about his whipping." 

"Poor little fellow!" said Clara; "that 
seemed very cruel." 



STORIES ABOUT LIONS. 24 1 

" But not so cruel, dear, as to leave a lion 
at large and have him kill people. Of two 
evils, we must always choose the lesser 
one. 

14 I do like stories about lions so much!", 
said Edith, who feared that they were com- 
ing to an end. 

"I am sure," continued Miss Harson, 
" that you will all approve of the lion who 
saved his keeper's life when a tiger sud- 
denly sprang on him. He actually knocked 
down the tiger and kept him down until the 
keeper got out of the cage." 

11 He was one of the noble kind," said 
Malcolm ; " but wasn't it wonderful that he 
should take the man's part against the 
tiger ?" 

" He was probably fond of his keeper," 
was the reply, " and not fond of the tiger. — 
From all that we can gather about the lion, 
he really seems to be an affectionate and 
grateful animal in some circumstances and 
with proper training ; but this compliment 
can scarcely be paid to his cousin the tiger. 
And now I am cooing- to finish the lion-sto- 
ries with an account of two young lions 

16 



242 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

that were kept, some years ago, in a private 
house in Boston. They lived in a room that 
was separated from the family sitting-room 
only by a grating, and of these very tame 
lions a lady who went to see them wrote a 
description that was printed in Wide Awake, 
This is what she says about them, and, as 
they were born in this country, I will call 
them 

"TWO AMERICAN LIONS. 

" ' The walls of their room are brick ; the 
floor is wood ; and it is as large as a good- 
sized sleeping-room, so that they have 
plenty of space to stroll about in. The 
door is made of a few strong wire bars and 
fastens on the outside by a sort of hasp, 
and they have one window looking out into 
the long, narrow alley which is their own 
yard. It is a passageway a few feet wide, 
with a high wall at the front end and high 
brick walls on each side with vines and 
pretty green things growing upon the edge, 
and it is open at the top the whole length ; 
so they have the fresh air, the blue sky and 
the sunshine when they are out there. 



STORIES ABOUT LIONS. 243 

" ' These lions are a little more than two 
years old, not yet fully grown, but great 
tall, long, strong creatures even now. They 
are not brother and sister, for each one 
came from a different litter and is the only 
one that lived. The father and mother of 
one are dead; the two other parents — real 
African lions brought over in a ship — are 
living now and traveling about the country 
in a menagerie. The little ones were born 
in New York, and the lady who shows them 
to you — whose husband was a showman — 
took them under her care at once and called 
them her " babies," and she speaks to them 
about their " mamma," and they understand 
her and kiss her, lapping her face and whin- 
ing softly, as a kitten does. She brought 
them up, and no one else had any charge of 
them. They used to lie in her lap, and they 
slept on her bed at night until they were 
quite large. One she named u Willie" and 
the other " Martha," and she talks to them 
and pets them with no more fear of them 
than if they were dogs or cats. She used 
to let them come into the sitting-room, but 
since they are so grown people who go to the 



244 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

house are a little in fear of them ; so the 
grating is now always kept shut. But the 
creatures seem to love to come and lie 
down as close to it as they can get, where 
they can see the family and be near them, 
and there they will stretch themselves out 
and lie in the most satisfied manner. 

" ' Nobody goes inside their room but this 
lady — Mrs. Lincoln — and nobody else feeds 
them or does anything for them. She gives 
them each day twelve pounds of beef — 
"not always sirloin steak," she said, but good 
meat, and always beef, because that is the 
most healthful for them and keeps them in 
perfect condition. No other kind of food 
is allowed them. One of them had a bone, 
playing with it and licking it*- I could not 
help asking what would happen if the beau- 
tiful maltese-and-white kitten that was frol- 
icking about the room should stray within 
reach of Willie's great quick paw. But 
Mrs. Lincoln said they had always had a 
cat there, and nothing had befallen her; she 
knew better than to go near the grating. 

"'The lady took a little rattan in her 
hand, opened the door and walked in. 



STORIES ABOUT LIONS. 245 

Willie was lying just under her feet, and 
she said, " Get up, sir!" and " Roll over!" 
and he obeyed. Something else that she 
asked him to do he seemed to feel rather 
lazy about, and she gave him a rap, after 
which he appeared to be very sorry and 
made a plaintive little whine, and reached 
up his great head and kissed her, as if to 
coax her ; at which she said, " Yes, kiss 
mamma," which made him happy. She made 
him stand up on his hind feet and stretch his 
fore paws up as high as he could ; she put 
her hand in his mouth, between his long, 
sharp teeth, and patted him on the head. 
Then he came back to the door and lay 
down again, growling a little — perhaps with 
satisfaction that it was over with. 

" ' She says they never attempted to harm 
her, and she has no fear that they ever will. 
She has been with them ever since they 
were born, and they love her. While we 
were there a young lady who used to live 
in the family came in and went right to the 
grating, got down on the floor, and Willie 
put up his face and kissed her through the 
bars, he was so glad to see her. Martha 



246 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

remains more quiet, though she looks as if 
she had spirit enough and will do her part 
in the tricks when called on. 

" ' Perhaps it is not strange that Mrs. 
Lincoln has no fear, for she brought these 
lions, when little puppies, in her lap from 
New York to Boston, and nursed them up 
on a bottle, such as babies are fed from, 
until they knew how to lap the milk from a 
dish, and on milk they were fed from her 
own hand until they could eat meat. They 
are fed now only once a day — at noon — and 
not at all on Sunday, such being the regu- 
lation in menageries. In addition to this, 
they have water once a day, and at night 
they sleep on the bare boards. They play 
with each other like kittens, and sometimes 
they roar like their kind in a savage state. 
Martha is the more quiet, but she has keen, 
watchful eyes ; and they both look up 
sharply when the doorbell rings and a new 
footstep is heard. Indeed, all their percep- 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE LION IN THE BIBLE. 

ALL were now ready for the verses in 
l the Bible where the lion is mentioned, 
and Miss Harson began by saying, 

''There is no wild animal so frequently 
mentioned in the Holy Scripture as the lion, 
and his name has even been given by the 
prophets to our blessed Lord, who is called 
1 the Lion of the tribe of Judah.' And yet, 
strange to say, there is not a lion now to 
be found throughout the length and breadth 
of Palestine." 

"What has become of them?" asked 
Malcolm, in surprise. 

" They have disappeared, from various 
causes, the principal one being the increase 
of population, for there are a great many 
more people now in Palestine than there 
were at one time in the history of that coun- 

247 



248 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

try. Another cause is the use of firearms 
in hunting, which the lion especially dreads. 
* Like all wild beasts, he cannot endure fire, 
and the flash of a gun terrifies him greatly. 
Then there is its report, surpassing even 
his roar in resonance ; and lastly, there is 
the unseen bullet, which seldom kills him 
at once, but mostly drives him to furious 
anger by the pain of its wound, yet which 
he does not dread nearly so much as the 
harmless flash and report. There is another 
cause of the lion's banishment from the 
Holy Land. It is well known that to at- 
tract any wild beast or bird to some def- 
inite spot all that is required is to provide 
them with a suitable and undisturbed home 
and a certainty of food. Consequently, the 
surest method of driving them away is to 
deprive them of both these essentials. 
Then the lion used to live, in forests, which 
formerly stretched over large tracts of 
ground, but which have long since been 
cut down, thus depriving him of his home, 
while the thick population and the general 
use of firearms have deprived him of his 
food. In fact, the lion has been driven out 



THE LION IN THE BIBLE. 249 

of Palestine just as the wolf has been from 
England. 1 " " 

" Did they use to have wolves in Eng- 
land, Miss Harson ?" said Clara, wonder- 
ingly. 

%i Yes, dear, and many other wild animals, 
which, like the lion of Palestine, have en- 
tirely disappeared. In those ancient days 
when the Bible was written lions must have 
been a very common sight in the Holy Land, 
and they were particularly dreaded for their 
ravages among the flocks. When David 
1 kept his father's sheep, there came a lion 
. . . and took a lamb out of the flock ;' and 
at this day the poor Arabs and Hottentots 
are in danger of losing all they possess in 
the same way. The Arabs live in tents, 
and a number of these tents form a small 
village, called a douar. Almost every night 
a lion who has his lair in a neighboring 
mountain — often twenty miles away — will at- 
tack one of these dotcars in quest of food for 
himself and his family. ' Down he marches 
from his mountain-home, sometimes uttering 
a roar which is heard at an immense dis- 
tance, and then all the animals begin to fly, 



250 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

generally in the direction of the Arab tents, 
wanting to find protection from man. That 
is not wise, however, for the lion, knowing 
very well where he is likely to find the most 
plentiful meal, makes directly for one of the 
tent-villages. What confusion and terror 
there is then ! All the animals — horses, 
oxen, camels — come rushing into the tents 
without ceremony, trampling upon and 
overturning women and children, while the 
dogs bark, the women scream and the 
men light fires all around and toss about 
great flaming torches, trying to scare the 
lion away/ " 

"I should think," said Clara, "that all 
those great animals, knocking down and 
trampling people, would be as bad as the 
lion. ,, 

" They certainly are very dangerous when 
frenzied with fear," replied her governess, 
" but the Arabs mind them very little, in 
comparison with the savage beast who rends 
and tears. — The lion does not trouble him- 
self about these performances. 'The thun- 
der of his voice drowns all their noise, and 
he walks straight on to the place where he 



THE LION IN THE BIBLE. 25 1 

intends to make his choice, and will there 
slaughter three or four bulls or oxen at 
once. Sometimes he will drive one or two 
home before him all the way to his den, 
where his cubs are no doubt expecting such 
welcome visitors. The Arabs very seldom 
fire on the lion, because they have an idea 
that it is when made angry that he is most 
likely to attack men ; so they just let them- 
selves be plundered and ruined at His 
Majesty's good pleasure. Some of them 
have had their whole flocks and herds — in 
which their wealth consists — carried clear 
off, till a man who was accounted rich finds 
himself a be^o-ar.' " 

"They must be very silly people/' ex- 
claimed Malcolm, " to let a lion do as he 
pleases, when it is so easy to frighten him 
away." 

" They are silly because they are super- 
stitious, and it is the foreigners who go 
there on hunting-tours that use the fire- 
arms. The great strength of the lion is 
often referred to in the Bible, and in bless- 
ing his sons on his death-bed Jacob says, 
4 Judah is a lion's whelp : from the prey, my 



252 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

son, thou art gone up : he stooped down, 
he couched as a lion, and as an old lion ; 
who shall rouse him up?' * King Solomon 
in his proverbs speaks of the lion as the 
'strongest among beasts, and that turneth 
not away from any,' and the Arabs call this 
powerful animal ' the strong one/ An 
English naturalist who has given us a great 
deal of information — the Rev. Mr. Wood — 
speaks of a lion's skin in his possession as 
very heavy, and says that the weight of each 
paw, although it was nothing but skin and 
talons, always surprises those who hear it 
fall upon the floor. The weight of one paw, 
when the animal is alive, will often crush 
a hunting-dog, although it seems to be 
laid lightly upon him and the claws are 
not used. The great hard muscles which 
appear when the skin is taken off show 
that the lion is indeed a very mountain of 
strength. — And now, Edie, what is it, dear ? 
For I am quite sure you have something to 
tell me," 

" It's Daniel in the lions' den," replied the 
little girl, eagerly, "and I found him myself." 

* Gen. xlix. 9. 



THE LION IN THE BIBLE. 



253 



Malcolm and Clara were highly amused 
at the idea of Edie's finding Daniel in the 
lions' den, and Miss Harson could scarcely 
keep from smiling, but she said very 
kindly, 

" Well, dear, that is one of the most in 




DANIEL AND THE LIONS. 



teresting stories in the Bible, and it certainly 
has a great deal to do with lions. It is in 
the sixth chapter of the book of Daniel ; and 
when this good man had been left all night 
in the den of lions because he refused to 
stop praying to God, he said to the king in 
the morning, ' My God hath sent his angel, 



254 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they 
have not hurt me: forasmuch as before 
him innocency was found in me ; and also 
before thee, O king, have I done no hurt. 
Then was the king exceeding glad for him, 
and commanded that they should take Dan- 
iel up out of the den. So Daniel was ta- 
ken up out of the den, and no manner of 
hurt was found upon him, because he be- 
lieved in his God.' " 

"And he let him be put in there," said 
Clara, thoughtfully, " to show the people 
that he was more powerful than lions ; 
for when Daniel's enemies were let down 
into the den, they were torn to pieces be- 
fore they got to the bottom." 

" Yes, dear," replied her governess, with 
an approving smile, "and I am glad that 
you have thought this out for yourself. 
— What verses have you found, Malcolm ?" 

"I found three in one chapter, Miss Har- 
son : ' Will a lion roar in the forest when he 
hath no prey? Will a young lion cry out 
of his den, if he have taken nothing? The 
lion hath roared, who will not fear? the 
Lord God hath spoken, who can but proph- 



THE LIOX IN THE BIBLE. 255 

esy? Thus saith the Lord; As the shep- 
herd taketh out of the mouth of the lion 
two legs, or a piece of an ear : so shall the 
children of Israel be taken out that dwell 
in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in 
Damascus in a couch/ " * 

u Satan is also compared to ■ a roaring 
lion/ " said Miss Harson, "and this sound is 
described by most travelers as very dread- 
ful. When the lion roars, he stoops his 
head to the ground, so that the sound seems 
to roll along like thunder, and sends echoes 
into the far distance. It can be heard a 
great way off, and would prove an excellent 
warning, only that it is not easy to tell just 
from what direction it comes. Says a hunt- 
er, ' One of the most striking things con- 
nected with the lion is his roar, which is 
extremely grand and peculiarly striking. 
It consists at times of a low, deep moaning, 
repeated over and over again, ending in 
faintly-audible sighs. On other occasions he 
startles the forest with loud, deep-toned, 
solemn roars, repeated five or six times in 
quick succession, each increasing in loud- 

* Amos iii. 4, 8, 12. 



256 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

ness to the third or fourth, when his voice 
dies away in five or six low, muffled sounds 
very much resembling distant thunder. As 
a general rule, lions roar during the night, 
their sighing moans commencing as the 
shades of evening envelop the forest and 
continuing at intervals throughout the night. 
In distant and secluded regions, however, I 
have heard them constantly roaring loudly 
as late as nine or ten o'clock on a bright, 
sunny morning. In hazy and rainy weather 
they are to be heard at every hour in the 
day, but their roar is subdued/ " 

" Here is my verse, Miss Harson," said 
Clara : " ' Thou makest darkness, and it is 
night ; wherein all the beasts of the forest 
do creep forth. The young lions roar after 
their prey, and seek their meat from God. 
The sun ariseth, they gather themselves 
together, and lay them down in their 
dens/ " * 

" Not one of their habits escaped the 
sacred writers, and their 'lurking in secret 
places ' is mentioned more than once. The 
lion can make himself almost invisible by 

* Ps. civ. 20-22. 



THE LION IN THE BIBLE. 2$J 

crouching low on the ground at night, and 
as he approaches an encampment he takes 
care to keep out of the light thrown around 
by the fire ; so that in the half darkness he 
looks like a little rising of the ground that 
would be passed without the least suspicion. 
But let any one try it, and the live hillock 
pounces — generally in silence — and rushes 
off with the victim to his den. 'Lying in 
wait ' is a favorite habit of his, and his 
breathing can sometimes be heard when 
there is nothing of him to be seen." 

11 Miss Harson," asked Malcolm, " what 
does it mean, 'As the shepherd taketh out 
of the mouth of the lion two legs or a piece 
of an ear' ?" 

"It means, I think/' replied the young 
lady, " that the lion is killed just as he has 
begun the work of spoiling, and with the 
proofs of it in his mouth. The young poet- 
shepherd of Bethlehem possibly did this 
when he ' slew both the lion and the bear/ 
Many years after this, when David was 
fighting against the Philistines, he had in 
his army ■ three mighty men/ of one of 
whom it is written, 'And Benaiah, the son 

17 



25 8 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of 
Kabzeel, who had done many acts ; he 
slew two lion-like men of Moab ; also he 
went down and slew a lion in a pit in a 
snowy day/ " 

" Did the men look like lions ?" asked 
Edith. 

" No, dear ; that is not what is meant, 
but that they had the strength and courage 
of lions, just as one of the old English 
kings, Richard I., is called Cceur de Lion, 
or ' heart of lion/ because of his great cour- 
age ; and in the Second Book of Samuel 
mention is made of one that is valiant, 
* whose heart is as the heart of a lion/ " * 

"It sounds strange to find a lion in a 
pit," said Clara. " How did Jie get there, 
Miss Harson ?" 

"A pit, dear, is a trap for the lion to fall 
into, and it was very much used in those 
days. It is made by digging deep in 
the earth and putting over the opening a 
slight covering- of sticks and earth to make 
it look like the rest of the ground. When 
the animals step on it, they fall in, and are 

* 2 Sam. xvii. io. 



THE LION IN THE BIBLE. 259 

almost sure to be injured in some way. 
They are generally killed before they are 
taken out, but to go down alone into such 
a place and slay a lion that has been taken 
in the trap requires no small amount of 
courage. Another and a much better way 
for taking large animals alive is with a net, 
which covers the animal entirely and ren- 
ders it so helpless that it can easily be bound 
and carried off. But the pit is cheaper and 
less troublesome. The Psalmist complains 
that his enemies have hidden for him their 
net in a pit, and that the proud have digged 
pits for him." 

" I don't see how they could ever get a 
net over a lion, ,, said Malcolm. 

" It is described in this way," replied Miss 
Harson : " * The precise locality of the lion's 
dwelling-place having been discovered, a 
circular wall of net is arranged round it. 
The men then send dogs into the thicket, 
hurl stones and sticks at the den, shoot ar- 
rows into it, fling burning torches at it, and 
so irritate and alarm the animal that it rushes 
against the net, which is so made that it 
falls down and envelops the lion in its 



260 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

folds/ The net is often mentioned in the 
Scriptures, and we read in the Psalms: 'In 
the net which they hid is their own foot 
taken/ * and * Let his net that he hath hid 
catch himself / f and Job says, 'God hath 
compassed me with his net.' J 

" ' Lions that were taken in nets seem to 
have been kept alive in dens, either as 
mere curiosities or as instruments of royal 
vengeance. Such seems to have been the 
object of the lions kept by Darius, into 
whose den Daniel was thrown by royal com- 
mand, and which afterward killed Daniel's 
accusers when thrown into the same den. 
It is plain that the lions kept by Darius must 
have been exceedingly numerous, because 
they killed at once the accusers of Daniel, 
who were many in number, together with 
their wives and children, who, in accordance 
with the cruel custom of that age and coun- 
try, were partakers of the same punishment 
with the real culprits/ 

"There is another mention of the lion, in 
the thirteenth chapter of the First Book of 
Kings. In this story we see that not even 

* Ps. ix. 15. f Ps. xxxv. 8. * Job xix. 6. 



THE LION IN THE BIBLE. 26 1 

the prophets of the Lord could break his 
law with impunity. A ' man of God' was 
sent to one of the wicked kings of Israel 
on purpose to warn him in the name of the 
Lord, and yet this man, though a prophet, 
died a violent death because he disobeyed 
God. He had some excuse, it is true. An 
old prophet told him a lie. He wanted the 
company of the man of God in his own 
house, and went out after him to invite him 
to come and eat with him, but the man of 
God refused, saying, ' I may not return with 
thee ; neither will I eat bread nor drink 
water with thee in this place ; for it was said 
to me by the word of the Lord, Thou shalt 
eat no bread nor drink water there/ Then 
the old prophet tempted him by a wicked 
lie, saying, 'An angel spake unto me by the 
word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back 
with thee into thine house, that he may eat 
bread and drink water/ So the man of 
God went back. He was tired and hungry, 
and he wanted to believe that which seemed 
so pleasant to him. But for this he was 
doomed to die. After he left the house 
where he had been entertained, a lion met 




THE DISOBEDIENT PROPHET. 



THE LION IN THE BIBLE. 263 

him in the way and killed him. The old 
prophet heard of it, and went out to see if 
it were true. There he found the dead 
body of the man lying in the way, and the 
lion standing by the body ; for the lion had 
not eaten the body nor killed the ass on 
which the man had been ridine." 



CHAPTER XIII. 

VERY DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

LIONS are so nice !" said Edith, with 
^ a sigh, when there could no longer 
be any doubt that they had come to an end. 
"I wish there was more about 'em. M 

This seemed to be the general opinion, 
but Miss Harson told them laughingly that 
the lion had already had the lion's share of 
notice, and that it was time to become ac- 
quainted with some of his relations. 

"They do not look in the least like him/' 
continued the young lady, " while our 
American panther, although considerably 
smaller, does resemble the lioness. The 
tiger is not a pleasant animal at any time ; 
but as the lion is lord of the forest, so the tiger 
is lord of the jungle, and his turn for attention 
comes. You remember how much you dis- 

264 



VERY DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 265 

liked those two savage-looking specimens 
at the Central Park?" 

Clara and Edith declared that they were 
11 horrid, " and Malcolm said that, although 
he would have liked to pat the lion he 
was talking to, he didn't want to touch 
one of those growling tigers. 

"They are not lovable animals," said the 
governess, " but in their way they are very 
handsome." 

The children looked so amazed at this 
that Miss Harson was obliged to explain 
what she meant : 

"They have beautifully -marked skins, 
with black rings on a tawny or bright-yellow 
ground, and the royal Bengal tiger is really 
a magnificent animal, beino- sometimes 
as large as a lion. Usually, however, this 
animal is about six feet long, while a large 
lion will often measure twelve feet. The 
tiger, too, is only about three feet high, 
while an ordinary lion is at least four feet." 

" I remember," said Clara, " how close 
down on the ground the tigers seemed to 
be w T hen they were stretching themselves 
and walking in their cages." 



266 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

"Yes," said Edie, "and they looked so 
long and queer when they walked around, 
just as Daisy does." 

"You are quite right, pet," replied Miss 
Harson. " Pussy certainly looks less pret- 
ty, and more tiger-like when she is walking 
than at any other time. There is no danger 
of mistaking a tiger for a lion, because, al- 
though both belong to the same family, the 
Felidae, or cats, they are very different- 
looking animals. The tiger is shorter and 
more slender than the lion, and his head is 
small in proportion to his size. He is also 
very elegantly striped and ringed, while his 
majestic cousin wears a plain, tawny coat. 
But, although smaller, the tiger is the more 
dangerous animal of the two, because he is 
so terribly active, and he seems quite as 
strong." 

"It's a good thing that he can't climb 
trees," said Malcolm, "but he looks as if he 
could." 

"Yes," replied his governess; "I have 
had the same thought. He does look as if 
he could climb trees. It would not be ex- 
pected of the lion : he is too dignified and 



268 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

heavy-looking ; but why the tiger, with his 
lithe body and lightning-like movements, is 
not a climber seems quite mysterious. He 
does, however, what looks very much like 
flying when he makes one of his tremen- 
dous ' charges/ " 

" Why, he is flying !" exclaimed Edith as 
she looked at a picture of a tiger that had 
sprung high in the air over the body of a 
fallen man. "And doesn't he look ugly, 
with that horrid mouth wide open !" 

" He certainly does, and the picture is pos- 
sibly intended to show the wonderful leap 
of a tigress related by an English hunter to 
whom word was brought that one of these 
animals had been seen creeping out of a 
thick patch that had just been searched: 
'The beast had cunningly remained hidden, 
in spite of the noise made by the men, and, 
thinking the danger over, was attempting 
to sneak off unobserved to some distant 
jungle, when she was espied by a man 
who had been stationed near the spot. 
Presently the animal came bounding along 
at a tearing pace. At a distance of sev- 
enty yards she received two shots, but, 



VERY DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 269 

seemingly uninjured, continued her rapid 
course for about a hundred yards farther, 
when she suddenly made a tremendous 
spring in the air, clearing a small tree in 
her path seven feet high, and fell dead on 
the other side. The leap, according to 
measurement, was over eight yards, and 
blood was found on the topmost boughs of 
the tree. She seemed to drop dead in the 
air/ " 

" Three times eight are twenty-four,'' 
said Clara, as though she were reading it 
out of a book. " Why, Miss Harson, that's 
farther than the panther jumped.'' 

"Four feet farther, dear, and the tiger is 
a larger and heavier animal. This will give 
you a good idea of its powerful muscles 
and great activity. You remember how 
the tigers at the Park were constantly walk- 
ing back and forth, as if they were too rest- 
less to keep still a single moment. It was 
near feeding- time, and they were eager for 
their meat.' " 

"I'm glad they couldn't get at us," said 
Edie, with a shudder. 

11 1 did not intend that they should," said 



270 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

Miss Harson, " and that is why I would not 
allow you to go very close. I was glad that 
my girls and boy did not try to amuse them-x 
selves by teasing the shut-up animals, and 
in its proper place I will tell you the story 
of a boy who was rather severely punished 
for making an enemy of a caged tiger." 

This was something interesting to look 
forward to, and the children were prepared, 
in the mean time, to enjoy any small crumbs 
of tiger- stories that might be vouchsafed 
them. 

" We will first learn all that we can about 
this most savage of wild beasts," continued 
the young lady, u but his ferocity has pre- 
vented a very intimate acquaintance with 
him, and there is not so much known of his 
habits as of those of many other wild ani- 
mals. We know, however, that the tiger is 
found only in different parts of Asia, being 
seen as far north as the southern part of 
Siberia, and that his hair, which is fine, thick 
and glossy, is thicker and longer in cold 
regions than in warm ones. The royal 
Bengal tiger, which inhabits India and the 
islands around it, is the largest and finest- 



VERY DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 2J\ 

looking of the species, with his bright, 
tawny-yellow skin thickly marked with 
black transverse bands, which continue on 
the paws and tail as rings. Underneath, 
the color is pure white. This rich coloring 
is found only in warm regions, and toward 
the north the tiger is paler, with very faint 
markings. In the East the tiger has long 
been regarded as an emblem of power, and 
a head of this animal, gorgeously adorned 
with jewels, was considered the great orna- 
ment in the throne of ancient Indian kino-s. 
It was a fitting emblem for many of those 
cruel and bloodthirsty tyrants. The tiger 
not only leaps in a wonderful manner, as 
we have seen, but it also runs very swiftly, 
and winds its way through brushwood or 
jungle with great ease. It catches its prey 
sometimes by chasing it, but oftener by lying 
in ambush and springing upon it. An ox 
or a buffalo is easily carried off by it. Like 
other animals of the cat family, it does most 
of its marketing by night and dozes in its 
thicket during the day. The tiger has the 
same habit as the lion of watching for 
smaller animals as they come to the water 



272 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

to drink, and, as it cannot exist without 
plenty of water itself, this is quite conveni- 
ent. Not satisfied, however, with these 
meals, the tiger prowls around villages and 
enters cattle-folds; he also follows traveling- 
parties and seizes such of the yoke-oxen 
and buffaloes as happen to stray from the 
encampment. ,, 

11 Doesn't he kill people too, Miss Har- 
son ?" asked Malcolm. 

" Yes ; he makes dreadful havoc among 
the poor natives, who do not know how to 
protect themselves against his ferocity, as 
he is sometimes bold enough to venture into 
a small village at night and pull the people 
out of their huts. Such a tiger has been 
known to take his victims in his mouth and 
carry them up the mountain. Not a sign 
of them was ever found afterward. These 
mountain-tigers, or 'man- eaters/ have some- 
times destroyed an entire village, and * they 
keep such a lookout from their high fast- 
nesses that not a man can move in the jun- 
gle or forest, except in the heat of the day, 
without their seeing him.' A poor villager, 
the father of the only family which one of 



VERY DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 273 

these savage creatures had not destroyed, 
described him to a hunter as 'the tiger who 
owns my village.' That same hunter killed 
both the tiger and the tigress, but not before 
the latter had carried off one of the natives 
who were watching with him for the stealthy 
animal to appear. The tiger was over sev- 
en feet long without his tail, and very stout ; 
his skin must have made a beautiful rug. 
The natives, who never undertake to go 
in search of a tiger themselves, loaded 
the hunter with expressions of gratitude 
and went back rejoicing to their deserted 
villages." 

11 But if the people don't kill the tigers," 
said Clara, "I should think they'd all be 
eaten up." 

"Yes, Miss Harson," added Malcolm, 
'• why aren't they?" 

"A great many of them are," was the 
reply, " and the yearly accounts of the num- 
ber of people in India who have been de- 
voured by tigers are terrible to think of. 
But to pursue a man-eating tiger, the 
scourge of the neighborhood, with any 
success requires qualities which these poor 

18 



274 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

people do not possess. The hunter must be 
brave, cool and quick in emergencies, while 
the natives are timid, excitable and ready to 
fly at the least surprise. Perseverance, too, 
is required, for, like most creatures that 
arrive at unwelcome times, the tiger is sel- 
dom to be found when he is wanted. 'The 
reason of this is that during the heat of 
the day, most probably gorged with food, 
if in the vicinity of mountains or hills, 
he climbs to his stronghold by a pre- 
cipitous path, and takes his rest under 
the overhanging slab of a rock shaded 
by some thick, leafy bush. Lying some- 
times in one favorite spot, sometimes in 
another — sometimes in the deep wooded 
ravine near the cool water, at other times 
on the top of the mountain — he baffles the 
search of the hunter year after year/ Some- 
times calves or heifers are tied up near the 
animal's haunt, in sight of a lofty and easily- 
climbed tree. When the tiger has killed 
and eaten this prey, probably stuffing him- 
self with too full a meal, the hunter makes 
a circle, that gradually becomes smaller and 
smaller, around the animal that has been 



VER Y DANGER US CHAR A CTERS. 



275 



used as a bait, and, cautiously looking into 
every likely spot, he may at last find the 
tiger asleep, if it is in hot weather and at 
the hottest time of day. The animal is 
then killed with a single bullet if the aim 
is a true one." 

" Once,'' said Edith, very slowly, as 




TIGER AND TRAP. 



though trying to remember something that 
was partly forgotten, " I saw a tiger looking 
at himself in a looking-glass, and it was a 
great big box, and he was tumbling down 
in it" 



276 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

Malcolm asked his little sister whether 
she dreamed that or read it in a fairy-tale, 
but she replied quite seriously that it was in 
a picture. 

" So it is, dear," said her governess, kindly, 
" and it explains a very ingenious trap which 
the Chinese use for catching timers, It is a 
large box with a looking-glass placed in the 
top, and the animal is so much attracted by 
the reflection of his own image that he 
loosens the fastening of the lid and finds 
himself a prisoner." 

"How mad he must be !" exclaimed 
Clara. 

" He is, doubtless, in a fine rage, but that 
does not restore him to his native wilds. — 
In India various devices are used for the 
same purpose. Among them are bows 
with poisoned arrows, which are fixed in 
paths which tigers are known to frequent, 
and on being touched the arrows are dis- 
charged, often entering the body and pro- 
ducing certain death. Another trap con- 
sists of heavy beams which are so arranged 
as to fall upon the animal in pressing against 
a rope, crushing it with their great weight. 



VERY DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 2*]*] 

Others, again, contain a live goat or some 
other small animal ; and if the tiger is hun- 
gry, he falls very easily into this snare/' 

"I should think a great many tigers 
would get killed," said Malcolm, u when 
such lots of traps are laid for 'em. But I 
wonder other timers don't find it out." 

"Tigers are not very sociable animals," 
was the reply, "and I doubt if they ever 
make communications to one another. — 
It is a custom in one of the provinces of 
India to smear broad leaves with a sticky 
substance and scatter them in the tiger's 
way; if he steps on one of these smeared 
leaves, there is nothing more to be feared 
from him. Up goes his paw to his face, 
which he rubs to get rid of the leaf; but 
this only makes matters worse, and a mass 
of leaves is stuck on his head and face that 
increases the more with his efforts to remove 
it. Finally his eyes are so blinded that he 
cannot see, and he rolls over and over on 
the ground, howling with rage. On hearing 
this welcome sound the hunters, who have 
been hiding close by, rush out and despatch 
him." 



278 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

" I'm glad he was killed/' said Edith, com- 
placently, " because then he couldn't turn 
poor people out of their villages, and I do 
not mind him getting stuck up with leaves." 

" Nobody expects you to mind it, you 
funny little puss !" replied her brother ; 
" but I guess the tiger minded it." 

Every one looked very much amused, 
but the little girl saw nothing particularly 
funny to laugh at, unless it was that wicked 
tiger plastered with leaves and rolling and 
howling because they would not come off. 

"Perhaps you don't mind this, either?" 
said Miss Harson, smiling, as she showed 
her a picture of a great horrid-looking 
tiger at home in his lair, while a long ser- 
pent was twined round a branch just over 
him. 

"I hope the snake will bite him," said 
Clara, very earnestly. " Wouldn't it be just 
splendid, Miss Harson, to have all the ugly, 
savao-e creatures kill each other?" 

" According to our ideas, it would be, 
Clara; but 'shall not the Judge of all the 
earth do right ?' We will not attempt, dear, 
to arrange the universe. But let us see 



VERY DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 2jg 

how our book explains this description : ' In 
India there are enormous tracts of waste- 
land, called jungle, all overgrown with tall, 
thick bushes and reeds, and there chiefly 
the tiger has his haunts. Now, you know, 
it cannot be till these are all cleared and 
cultivated that he can be quite got rid of. 
The tiger, however, has other enemies than 
man. While lurking in his lair, waiting for 
an opportunity to spring on some passing 
prey, or perhaps taking his rest after gorg- 
ing himself with food, he occasionally falls 
a victim to the deadly fangs of one of the 
great Indian serpents, which writhes its 
glittering body along the branch of a neigh- 
boring tree until it hangs suspended over 
the unconscious animal. Then it darts forth 
its tongue, and strikes him in the spine just 
where the head is joined to the neck, the 
blow always proving fatal/ ' 

" Miss Harson," said Malcolm, almost in 
a tone of awe, "isn't it strange that the 
snake should know just where to strike ?" 

"It is indeed/' was the reply. "It is one 
of those little things which teach the great 
truth that ' God is over all his works/ ' 



CHAPTER XIV. 

HABITS AND WAYS. 

MISS H ARSON," said Clara, " when 
you were telling us about elephants, 
you spoke of their being taken, instead of 
horses, to hunt tigers ; will you not tell us 
something more about these tiger-hunts ? 
They must be very queer." 

"There is not much to tell about them, 
Clara, as you already know that the ele- 
phant is terribly afraid of the^ tiger unless 
he is accustomed to hunting, and that he 
keeps his precious trunk curled up or raised 
above his head for safety. 'An untrained 
elephant/ it seems, * is very likely to turn 
round the moment it sees the tiger and run 
away as fast as it can ; which conduct some- 
times deprives its rider of his proper share 
of the sport, and sometimes gives him too 
much of it, as the infuriated tiger has been 

280 



282 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

known to leap upon the elephant's hind- 
quarters, and from thence to make its way 
to the howdah, where the sportsmen sit. 
On feeling the tigers claws the elephant 
usually shakes itself with such vehemence 
that the hunters have great difficulty in 
keeping their seat, and sometimes do fall 
off. On one such occasion a gentleman 
fell actually upon the tiger, which was so 
terrified at the accident that he permitted 
the hunter to escape with no other injury 
except the fright and a bruise naturally pro- 
duced when two bodies meet together with 
a certain momentum.' " 

"Well," said Malcolm, "that is a funny 
way of frightening a tiger, but maybe he 
thought it was a kind of trap to catch 
him." 

"That is quite possible," replied his gov- 
erness, " but it is often a surprise to see how 
easily strong savage animals are frightened 
by anything unexpected. It is said that an 
English officer in India was walking in his 
garden, when a tiger suddenly made its 
appearance directly in front of him, and 
with a vicious growl crouched as a cat 



HABITS AND WAYS. 283 

does when he is going to spring on a mouse. 
In the surprise of the moment the officer 
snatched off his big, stiff cap covered with 
bear-skin, and, holding it before his face, 
roared in it as loud as he could. The ti^er 
seemed perfectly astounded at such an un- 
couth animal, and, turning hastily, he rushed 
into a neighboring thicket/' 

It was delightful to think of frightening 
a tiger, but the children were still more 
surprised to hear that this savage animal is 
terrified by a mouse. 

" When we consider the folly of human 
beings," said Miss Harson, " in being fright- 
ened by insects which they can destroy by 
a single movement, it is not so difficult to 
believe that even a large animal will shake 
at the approach of a small one. The story 
is told by an officer who, with his compan- 
ions, indulged in the amusement of teasing 
a beautiful tiger that was kept in a cage at 
Mysore. ' But what annoyed him far more/ 
he says, 'than our poking him up with a 
stick or tantalizing him with shins of beef 
or legs of mutton, was introducing a mouse 
into his cage. No fine lady ever exhibited 



284 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

more terror at the sight of a spider than 
this magnificent royal tiger betrayed on 
seeing a mouse. Our mischievous plan 
was to tie the little animal by a string to 
the end of a long pole and thrust it close 
to the tiger's nose. The moment he saw it 
he leaped to the opposite side ; and when 
the mouse was made to run near him, he 
jammed himself into a corner and stood 
trembling and roaring in such an ecstasy of 
fear that we were obliged to desist, from 
sheer pity to the poor brute. Sometimes 
we insisted on his passing over the spot 
where the unconscious little mouse ran 
backward and forward. For a long time, 
however, we could not get him to move, 
till, at length— I believe, by the help of a 
squib — we obliged him to start ; but, in- 
stead of pacing leisurely across his den or 
making a detour to avoid the object of his 
alarm, he generally took a kind of flying 
leap so high as nearly to bring his back in 
contact with the roof of his cage/ " 

" That wasn't nice," said Edith, disap- 
provingly, "to tease a poor tiger that 
couldn't get away." 



HABITS AND WAYS. 285 

" It must have been fun, though," said 
Malcolm, " to see such a hateful beast, that 
chews people up, afraid of being chewed up 
himself by a little mouse." 

" I agree with Edie," replied the young 
lady, " that it was not ' nice/ as it was any- 
thing but manly to torment a helpless ani- 
mal, however savage his nature may have 
been, and these young officers deserved a 
good fright themselves. But the story does 
not say that they ever got it. — The tiger," 
she continued, "is certainly a well-hunted 
animal, and in India the rajahs, or chiefs, 
go out to hunt in great state. 'And a very 
grand sight it must be to see them all 
dressed in gold and jewels, their elephants, 
perhaps to the number of thirty or forty, 
caparisoned — that means dressed out and 
ornamented — as richly as themselves. 
These animals have a great square cloth 
thrown over their backs, embroidered in 
the most gorgeous manner, and a howdah 
on their backs — that is, a kind of seat like 
the body of a gig, where the English gen- 
tleman or the Indian prince sits ; and there 
is a mahout, or driver, besides, to direct the 



286 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

elephant where to go and what to do. 
When the tiger is seen moving in the jun- 
gle, he is fired upon, and very often, if he 
is wounded, he will slink away as softly as 
he can under the bushes, and then the 
hunting-party see no more of him, and 
have to go back as they came. Sometimes, 
however, he will spring out upon the ele- 
phant and jfasten his teeth and claws in 
his neck or shoulder. Then the real fight 
comes to be between the elephant and the 
tiger. The former will try to kneel on his 
enemy and crush him by the weight of his 
great legs, which are like large pillars, and 
with his heavy body, or sometimes the tiger 
may get a good kick which will break his 
ribs and send him flying away to a distance. 
But at other times they both roll on the 
ground together, and that is very dangerous 
for the people on the elephant's back, and 
a great deal depends on the exactness with 
which the other hunters take aim and fire 
their pieces/ " 

"Well," said Clara, "I don't see why 
people want to go and hunt tigers and get 
killed. ,, 



HABITS AND WAYS. 287 

" They do not often get killed, dear," re- 
plied her governess, " considering how 
much hunting is done, and the world would 
be in a bad condition if there were no men 
brave enough to face dangers. The timers 
and other 'man-eaters' could then have 
things all their own way, and in many re- 
gions the inhabitants would be swept from 
the face of the earth." 

" Miss Harson," asked Malcolm, " did any 
one ever tame a tiger?" 

" Not thoroughly," was the reply, " for 
tigers are not to be trusted even when they 
seem to be tame, while the lion can be. 
The tiger has from three to five cubs, and 
it is said that very young ones, if treated 
as pets, will become as much attached to 
their owners as do domestic cats. They 
are anything, however, but safe pets, and 
after years of kindness and familiarity they 
will show the tiger-nature and turn upon 
those who caress them. The sight or the 
taste of blood seldom fails to bring back 
their savage instinct, and a gentleman in 
India came very near being killed by a tame 
tiger which he had reared from a kitten. 



288 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

i He was sitting, one evening, outside his 
bungalow, reading, with his pet crouching 
down beside him. One hand hung by 
his side, while the other held his book. 
Being closely engaged with his studies, he 
scarcely observed that the animal had be- 
gun to lick his disengaged hand, until he 
heard a low growl, and, looking down, he 
saw the hand covered with blood. Instantly 
he knew that the fatal instinct had awoke, 
and, not having any weapon, he felt himself 
in a very dangerous predicament. If he 
withdrew his hand, his pet would that 
moment spring. Most providentially, he 
observed his servant at a little distance, 
and, calling to him, he told him to go into 
the house, fetch a loaded gun and shoot 
the tiger dead on the spot. He then sat 
quite still, allowing it to growl and lick his 
blood at its pleasure, but you may feel sure 
the moments seemed very long. At length 
the servant made his appearance, ap- 
proached very stealthily, so as not to dis- 
turb the animal, took a steady aim and shot 
him through the heart/ " 

" How glad the gentleman must have 



HABITS AND WAYS. 289 

been !" said Clara. " But, Miss Harson, 
what made his hand bleed ? Did the tiger 
bite it?" 

11 Do you not remember, dear, the sharp 
points on the lion's tongue? Well, the 
tiger's is the same, and in licking his mas- 
ter's hand his rough tongue broke the skin 
and caused it to bleed. — A young man 
employed in the service of the East India 
Company relates a narrow escape he had 
one day as, mounted on an elephant, he 
was hunting tigers. As he was passing 
under a very large tree the great animal 
disturbed a swarm of bees which had made 
their nest in it. There are a great many 
nests of the same kind in the almost un- 
frequented woods, which give shelter to the 
wild beasts. Out sallied the swarm im- 
mediately to attack their enemy, as they 
regarded both the young man and the ele- 
phant. He was not provided with the large 
cloth which natives always, and Europeans 
generally, carry with them as a safeguard 
against such attacks ; so he could do noth- 
ing better than slip off his elephant and 
run away for his life, though at the risk of 
j 9 



29O DANGEROUS CHARACTERS, 

rushing into the jaws of a tiger which he 
had just roused from his lair. Many of the 
bees followed him and he was much stung, 
but he says that he believes his life was 
saved by a blue monkey, who, being dis- 
turbed by the report of the gun, began to 
chatter very fast, and made such a noise 
that he drew the attention of the swarm to 
himself. They thought he was their invad- 
ing foe. The main body settled on the poor 
creature, and the young gentleman has no 
doubt that the monkey was killed outright 
by them, as he certainly would have been 
himself had they all settled in their rage 
and fury on him. As he was running away, 
rubbing his head where the bees had stung 
him, another elephant of the party came 
up, and he was rescued from further danger 
of the tiger." 

" Miss Harson," said Malcolm, after a 
little while, "I should think that the mena- 
gerie-people would have a great deal of 
trouble with tigers." 

"They do," was the reply, " and in ways 
that you would never think of. A tiger in 
good condition costs about fifteen hundred 



292 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

dollars, to begin with ; then he requires 
about fifty pounds of beef a day, and this 
must be carefully prepared for him before 
he is allowed to eat it" 

"Is it cut up," asked Edith, "as my meat 
was when I was a little girl ?" 

"No, dear," said Miss Harson, laughing 
at the idea of her not being a little girl 
now, " not exactly like that ; but the bones 
must all be taken out, for fear of the ani- 
mal's hurting his mouth, as when confined 
to a cage he is too indolent to grind them 
properly. The fat, too, must be all cut away, 
as this would not agree with him when 
he has so little exercise, and the fifteen- 
hundred-dollar tiger might die on its own- 
ers' hands of a diseased liver^ But speak- 
ing of menageries reminds me of my story, 
which is intended as a lesson for those 
who cannot see an animal in captivity 
without trying to make it angry." 

"Is it your very own story, Miss Har- 
son ?" asked Clara. 

"I believe, dear, that I may call it so," 
was the smiling reply ; and then Miss Har- 
son told her charges about 



HABITS AND WAYS. 293 

HAVING FUN WITH A TIGER. 

Every one in Woodsfield knew Dan Terry, 
and almost every one had a good word for 
him. His rosy, laughing face was sure of 
a welcome wherever he went, but he was 
more of a favorite with the younger people 
of the village than with the older ones. 
There never was such a boy as Dan for 
"having fun," and he was not always par- 
ticular what kind of fun it was. Teasing 
was one of his favorite amusements, and, 
no matter what or whom he teased, it was 
always "such fun !" While he was at home 
with his aunt — a quiet maiden-lady who did 
not know half his pranks, but who loved 
the fatherless and motherless boy very ten- 
derly — he escaped with few punishments, but 
he had also an uncle who was not Miss 
Selina's brother, and he suddenly took it 
into his head to have the boy come and 
make him a visit in the city — to see, as he 
said, what was in him. Mr. Brainerd was 
quite alone, and he had very pleasant rooms 
in a laro-e hotel which seemed to Dan a 
perfect palace. 

The first thine to be done with the coun- 



294 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

try visitor was to get him a thorough outfit, 
and the next was to tell him what he might 
do while his uncle was down town in his 
business-office. Mr. Brainerd told Dan 
that he would not see much of him for the 
next month, and that he should find out, in 
the mean time, what stuff his nephew was 
made of. He was at liberty to go on such 
excursions by himself as were recommended 
by his uncle, and he could take a daily trip, 
if he chose, to the Park to study the ani- 
mals, and report at night what he had 
seen. 

Away went Dan, feeling very fine in his 
new clothes and with what seemed to him 
an immense sum of money in his pocket, 
and took his way at once to the animals. 
Mind, I do not say whether he was in New- 
York or in Philadelphia, or in some other 
city, and I need not, therefore, be particular 
about details. Wherever it was, he found 
plenty of animals, some of which he had 
seen before, as a traveling menagerie now 
and then visited the little village of Woods- 
field. But it always went away again be- 
fore Dan could really get acquainted with 



HABITS AND WA VS. 295 

any of the creatures, and he was delighted 
now to have a chance of studying them at 
his leisure. There were both houses and 
enclosures for these four-legged inmates, 
and, while Dan enjoyed them all, his spe- 
cial delight was the royal Bengal tiger, with 
whom he at once decided to have " lots of 
fun." 

Dan began his advances to the tiger by 
shaking his handkerchief at him, when 
the animal glared furiously; then there 
was a roar, and " Rajah " — as the tiger 
was named — made a bound forward that 
seemed to loosen the bars of his cage. 
Dan tumbled over backward, almost on the 
cage of a dignified lion who was quietly 
watching these antics, and for a moment 
he thought that the tiger was on him, but, 
finding himself unhurt, he began to enjoy 
it ; so, standing in front of the timer's resi- 
dence, he made some astonishing grimaces 
at His Bengalese Majesty. His Royal High- 
ness was not very good tempered, and, as 
his tormentor expressed it, he "just tore 
round like liorhtninV 

Some kind hearted ladies who were pass- 



296 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

ing through the room, and who had no idea 
that the " gentlemanly little boy," as they 
called Dan, was the cause of these roars 
and springs, said, as they glanced pityingly 
at the excited animal, 

"Poor creature! he must be dreadfully 
hungry." 

The gentlemanly little boy had plenty of 
fun that morning, and the more Rajah 
stormed, the more the boy enjoyed it. He 
did not see that at one time a thrust-out 
paw had very nearly clutched him. 

Teasing the tiger was not mentioned to 
Mr. Brainerd in the account of the day's ad- 
ventures, and that gentleman said approv- 
ingly, 

" Very well. Go and see the animals as 
often as you like ; it is a good and safe 
amusement for you." 

Dan did go very often during the four 
weeks' vacation allowed him, and he found 
it "great fun" to tease the animals gener- 
ally, but the beautifully-striped tiger re- 
ceived much the larger share of these at- 
tentions, and resented them accordingly. 
His eyes fairly flashed green fire when the 



HABITS AND WAYS. 297 

unwelcome visitor grinned persistently at 
him, or flourished his handkerchief as near 
his face as possible, or knocked on the bars 
of his cage with a stick, and the furious an- 
imal certainly tried his best to get out and 
tear his tormentor to pieces. 

One morning Dan strolled leisurely to- 
ward the well-known cage, full of a new 
scheme for plaguing the royal captive, 
when all at once he discovered that he was 
not there. What had become of him ? Dan 
wondered. Had he been taken away some- 
where, or was he dead ? He hoped neither, 
because he should really miss him. As these 
thoughts passed through his mind he heard 
a low growl, and there, on the opposite side 
of the room, was Rajah crouched down for 
a spring. His eyes were flashing and his 
teeth glittering : he had his enemy now. 
But just as he seemed to be flying through 
the air Dan suddenly fell right into the 
lion's cage, against which he had pressed 
in his terror, as a keeper who had overslept 
himself that morning in his great hurry 
had neglected to fasten the door properly. 

No ; Dan was not killed. The lion, for- 



298 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

tunately, happened to be an old and a par- 
ticularly good-tempered one, born in a cage 
and accustomed all his life to children. He 
seemed, too, to have a grudge against his 
opposite neighbor and rather to enjoy Dan's 
mischievous pranks, especially as none of 
them had happened to be directed against 
himself. And now, when . the surprising 
young person in knickerbockers, and all the 
rest of it, made him this unceremonious 
visit to his cage, he just blinked lazily at 
him without lifting a paw. 

The tiger made a spring, but was unex- 
pectedly muffled by some startled keepers at 
the other end of his leap, who, as the alarm 
was given that he had broken loose, col- 
lected their forces and blinded him with a 
heavy buffalo-robe until he could be secured. 
Their amazement was great to find a very 
still, pale boy in the lion's apartment, but 
they knew that he was in no danger, and, 
with the great fatherly-looking animal still 
blinking benevolently at him, Dan was lifted 
out more dead than alive. 

It was found that two or three of the iron 
bars in front of Rajah's cage were actually 



HABITS AND WAYS. 299 

broken with a last desperate effort, after 
being weakened by a succession of frantic 
springs against them in his rage at Dan ; 
so that the young gentleman had brought 
this terrible fright entirely upon himself. 
He was so weak and limp with terror, both 
of the tiger and of the lion, that he had to 
be taken home in a carriage ; and when 
his uncle arrived, he was delirious with 
fever. 

It was a very sharp remedy that cured 
Dan Terry of his propensity for enjoying 
himself at the expense of others, but he 
was cured. When he recovered from the 
fever brought on by the fright, he went 
back to Aunt Selina a pale, thin boy who 
seemed, she declared, as if he had been 
made over into some one else. 

The children were fascinated with the 
terror of this adventure, but, while they 
acknowledged that Dan was a very mean 
boy to tease helpless animals, the general 
impression seemed to be that tigers were 
more " horrible" than ever. 



CHAPTER XV. 

A SPOTTED TIGER. 

NO one asked if there were anything 
more about tigers, but Edith inquired 
if they were going to hear about the mon- 
keys now. 

" Not quite yet, dear," was the reply ; 
" there are a few more animals to be at- 
tended to first. And just now we will see 
what has been said about a pretty little 
spotted tiger, the leopard. He is found in 
Asia and in Africa, but sometimes he is de- 
scribed as a panther and sometimes as a 
ocelot, or lynx. All these animals are cats, 
but the leopard is quite a distinct species, 
and his beautifully-marked skin is univer- 
sally admired. The ground-color is fawn, 
and the black spots on it are shaped some- 
thing like a rose. He is smaller and lighter 
than the tiger, but he is even more active, 

300 



A SPOTTED TIGER. 30I 

and he can climb trees like an ordinary 
cat." 

"Is he savage like the tiger ?" asked 
Clara. "Will he kill people?" 

" The sight of a man usually frightens a 
leopard," replied her governess, "and it 
will try to escape him ; ■ but when wounded 
or irritated, all sense of fear is lost in an 
overpowering rush of fury, and it then be- 
comes as terrible a foe as the lion himself. 
It is not so large nor so strong, but it is 
more agile and quicker in its movements ; 
and when it is seized with one of these 
paroxysms of anger, the eye can scarcely 
follow it as it darts here and there, striking 
with lightning rapidity and dashing at any 
foe within reach. Its whole shape seems 
to be transformed and absolutely to swell 
with anger; the eyes flash with fiery lustre, 
the ears are thrown back on the head, and it 
continually utters alternate snarls and yells 
of rage. It is hardly possible to recognize 
the graceful, lithe, glossy creature whose 
walk is so noiseless and whose every 
movement is so easy in the furious, passion- 
swollen animal that flies at every foe with 



302 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

blind fury and pours out sounds so fierce 
and menacing that few men, however well 
armed, will care to face it/ " 

"This one in the picture is snarling," 
said Malcolm, "and he just looks like the 
maddest kind of an animal." 

" Yes," said his governess, " and see what 
a stealthy look he has. He gets his living 
by preying upon the smaller animals within 
his range, whether wild or tame. Deer and 
antelopes dread the sight of him, and, 
although they are off and away like the 
wind when frightened, the leopard is a 
match for them through his cunning and the 
wonderful springs he is able to make. ' It 
conceals itself in some spot/ says a natural- 
ist, 'whence it can see far around without 
being seen, and thence surveys the country. 
A tree is the usual spot selected for this 
purpose, and the leopard, after climbing the 
trunk by means of its curved talons, settles 
itself in the fork of the branches, so that its 
body is hidden by the boughs and only its 
head is shown between them. With such 
scrupulous care does it conceal itself that 
none but a practiced hunter can discover 



304 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

it, while any one who is unaccustomed to 
the woods cannot see the animal even when 
the tree is pointed out to him/ • 

" Wouldn't it be dreadful," said Edith, 
" if we had leopards in the trees here ? 
Why, one might tumble down on us when- 
ever we went out." 

"They wouldn't 'tumble/ Toodlekins," 
replied her brother ; " they'd spring. — Isn't 
that what they do, Miss Harson ? 

"When their prey is close enough, they 
spring from their hiding-place, but some- 
times there is considerable work before 
them first. From his perch in a tree the 
leopard may see deer feeding at some dis- 
tance ; then he slips down and picks his 
way along very stealthily in that direction. 
He must be careful if he hopes to catch 
one of these fleet-footed animals, who are 
as watchful as they are swift ; and should 
they scent him — which they can do a mile 
away if he approaches to the windward — 
they would be out of sight before he could 
reach the spot. Their eyes and ears are 
as sharp as their scent, and their spot- 
ted enemy is 'obliged to approach them 



A SPOTTED TIGER. 305 

against the wind, to keep himself under 
cover, and yet to glide so carefully along 
that the heavy foliage of the underwood 
shall not be shaken and the dry sticks and 
leaves which strew the ground shall not be 
broken. He has also to escape the obser- 
vation of certain birds and beasts which in- 
habit the woods, and which would certainly 
set up their alarm-cry as soon as they saw 
him, and so give warning to the wary deer, 
which can perfectly understand the cry of 
alarm from whatever animal it may happen 
to proceed/ " 

" Well/' said Clara, " I should think the 
leopard would have a hard time of it, and 
that he'd never catch anything." 

11 He does catch his prey, with all these 
drawbacks, simply because he perseveres; 
and here the leopard can teach us all a les- 
son. He thinks of nothing but his prey, and 
he glides toward the deer so slowly and cau- 
tiously that it is often several hours before 
he has gone over a single mile. But he is 
getting closer to them all the while, and 
the deer are gradually eating their way to- 
ward him. He conceals himself in the 
20 



306 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

most sheltered spot, and ' as soon as they 
are near enough he collects himself for a 
spring, just as a cat does when she leaps on 
a bird, and dashes toward the deer in a 
series of mighty bounds. For a moment 
or two they are startled and paralyzed with 
fear at the sudden appearance of their en- 
emy, and thus give him time to get among 
them. Singling out some particular animal, 
he leaps upon it, strikes it down with one 
blow of his paw/ and it is speedily done 
for." 

"It's just a horrid tiger, then, ,, said Edith. 
" I thought it was nicer." 

"The leopard kills because it is hun- 
gry, dear," replied her governess, " but the 
tiger often does it for the sheer love of 
killing. Our present acquaintance is by no 
means a gentle pussy, yet we cannot justly 
call it cruel because it uses the only means 
it has for getting a living. — This is the way 
it does when it lives in wild regions and 
feeds upon wild game ; but when the leop- 
ard is near enough to a settlement to seize 
sheep and other domestic animals, it works 
in a different manner. Besides being 



A SPOTTED TIGER. 307 

penned up in enclosures, sheep and goats 
are watched so carefully by herdsmen and 
dogs that a meal of mutton is not at all 
easy to get. ' Sometimes it creeps quietly 
to the fold and escapes the notice of the 
dogs, seizes upon a sheep and makes off 
with it before the alarm is given. Some- 
times it hides by the wayside, and as the 
flock pass by it dashes into the midst of 
them, snatches up a sheep and disappears 
among the underwood on the opposite side 
of the road. Sometimes it is crafty enough 
to deprive the fold of its watchful guardian. 
Dogs which are used in leopard-hunting 
never attack the animal, though they are 
rendered furious by the sound of its voice. 
They dash at it as if they meant to devour 
it, but take very good care to stay beyond 
reach of its terrible paws. By continually 
keeping the animal at bay they give time 
for their master to come up, and generally 
contrive to drive it into a tree where it can 
be shot/ " 

"Then," said Malcolm, "the dogs are as 
cunning as is the leopard. It must be sur- 
prised to find itself caught." 



308 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

"It is not always caught, though, by the 
dogs/' replied his governess, "nor obliging 
enough to be driven up a tree. Sometimes 
the doo-s have a tiresome chase of it for 
nothing, because Master Leopard outwits 
them in a very clever manner. Having 
found a nice retired spot near the fold, it 
begins to growl in a low voice, and the dogs, 
hearing the enemy, as they think, some dis- 
tance off, rush toward the sound, barking in 
the most excited manner. As soon as they 
pass the leopard's hiding-place out it springs, 
knocks down one or two of them, and before 
they can recover themselves is off to its home 
in the woods. The leopard is sure to live 
in a forest, because it delights in trees, 
which it can climb to their very tops and 
to the ends of the branchesv It especially 
likes very high underwood to roam in, 
with trees here and there. 'When crouched 
in this cover, it is practically invisible, even 
though its body may be within arm's length 
of a passenger. The spotted body har- 
monizes so perfectly with the broken lights 
and deep shadows of the foliage that even 
a practiced hunter will not enter a covert 




LEOPARD AND BABOONS. 



3IO DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

in search of a leopard unless he is accom- 
panied by dogs. The instinct which teaches 
the leopard to choose such localities is truly 
wonderful, and may be compared with that 
of the tiger, which cares little for under- 
wood, but haunts the grass-jungles, where 
the long, narrow blades harmonize with the 
stripes which decorate its body/ It is fond 
of making a meal from the monkeys and 
baboons which abound in the forest, their 
shrill screams and horrible grimaces having 
no effect on their enemy/' 

"Aren't leopard-skins handsome for 
rugs ?" asked Clara. 

"Yes," replied Miss Harson ; " a leopard- 
skin is quite a valuable ornament, and 
amonor the tribes of Africa it is considered 
a royal garment, and only their kings, or 
chiefs, are allowed to wear it, The fashion 
is to hang the spotted robe gracefully over 
one shoulder." 

" I wouldn't like to be an African chief, 
then, in warm weather," said Malcolm, "and 
I s'pose it's always warm in Africa. Think 
of wearing a fur robe over your shoulder 
now!" 



A SPOTTED TIGER. 3II 

"They wear very little else/' was the 
laughing reply, "and this one garment is 
probably less oppressive than are the heavy 
court-robes of civilized nations. — The leop- 
ard, is a very handsome, graceful animal, 
and its spotted skin is well worth having, 
but it certainly is not worth risking one's 
life for. A wounded leopard is a particu- 
larly savage creature, and, in hunting, an 
animal is often wounded and not killed. 
An African hunter relates the dreadful ex- 
perience of a gentleman who was nearly 
killed by an enraged leopard at which he 
had fired without even hitting- it. The 
animal sprang upon his shoulders and 
dashed him to the ground and lay upon him, 
howling and tearing his hands, arms and 
head. Then it seemed to get tired of its 
victim, and allowed him to escape. The 
man was not killed, but he never could use 
his arms again/' 

"That was dreadful," said Clara, "and I 
don't see why people ever want to go and 
hunt such savage animals. It's a pity they 
couldn't be killed in some other way." 

"And yet, savage as it seems in its 



312 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

natural state, a tame leopard is quite an 
attractive and affectionate animal. Leop- 
ards are often caught, you know, for menag- 
eries and brought over in ships, and some- 
times the sailors make pets of them, when 
they become as harmless as ordinary cats. 
But if they are teased and ill-treated on the 
voyage, they get into a habit of snarling 
and turning away from every one, and it is 
almost impossible to break them of these 
habits. They have a wonderful memory for 
injuries, and it is said that a number of years 
ago there were in an English menagerie five 
young leopards which grew up together as 
one family, another being added to the party 
after a time. But the new one was evident- 
ly not wanted, and the others treated him 
badly. He never forgot this ; and when 
the keeper came to the den, he would rub 
himself up against him with great delight 
and show his pleasure in being caressed ; 
but when any of his companions wished to 
be noticed, he would growl and spit, and 
get as jealous and angry as if he could 
speak and tell his feelings.'' 

It seemed very strange that an animal 



A SPOTTED TIGER. 313 

who would tear a man to pieces in one 
place could enjoy being caressed by the 
same kind of being in another, and even 
show jealousy of its own species; but Miss 
Harson said this was known to be a fact. 

"With the exception of monkeys," con- 
tinued the young lady, " no wild animals 
are so playful in captivity as leopards. 
They are easily tamed, and their quick, 
graceful movements are very pretty. Where 
there are several together in one large cage, 
this apartment is often furnished with a 
tree for them to climb, as they are such 
tree-loving animals and are usually born 
among the shadowing boughs. 'Suddenly- 
one of them appears to be tired and 
crouches in some strange position, usually 
lying flat along a branch or packed into 
a forked branch, where it lies very quiet 
until one of its companions comes unsus- 
pectingly by, when it springs up, gives its 
friend a pat and dashes off with more en- 
ergy than ever.' ■ In another menagerie, 
where several animals were kept in one 
cage, the leopards evidently considered that 
the great object of the black tip of the 



314 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

lion's tail was to afford them amusement. 
This being their opinion, they acted up to 
it; and that unfortunate lion could not even 
wag the end of his tail without a leopard 
pouncing upon it. Even when he got up 
and walked up and down his cage, keeping 
his tail perpendicularly in the air to get it 
out of the way of his tormentors, one leop- 
ard jumped up on a shelf near the top of the 
cage and hit the lion's tail a hard pat every 
time he passed under the shelf.' ' 

Edith was highly amused with this story, 
and wondered that the lion did not fly at 
the saucy leopard and kill him ; but her 
croverness told her that savage animals are 
much milder in captivity and frequently 
live together on very good terms. 

" In the same menagerie,'^ continued the 
young lady, "a fine full-grown leopard was 
said to be as tame as any creature could 
be. Mutton was his favorite food, but the 
keeper would sometimes place in his den 
a piece of beef; this the leopard would 
smell, then turn it over with an air of con- 
tempt, and, coming forward, he would peer 
round behind the keeper's back to see if he 



A SPOTTED TIGER. 315 

had not — as was generally the case — his 
beloved mutton concealed. When given 
to him, he would lay it down and leave it, 
as soon as the keeper called him to come 
and be petted/' 

" I wish there was such a leopard as that 
at the Central Park," said Malcolm ; " he 
must have been delightful." 

" Unfortunately, there was no leopard at 
all at the Park when we visited it, and I 
should have been g-lad to have vou see this 
pretty, graceful animal. There is a very 
interesting account of a tame leopard that 
roamed about his master's house in his 
native land, and was afterward exhibited in 
England, which I have lately read, and I 
will try to repeat it to you. He and his 
brother were found, when they were kittens, 
or cubs, in an African forest, where their 
mother seemed to have deserted them, and 
they were taken to the king of Ashantee's 
palace and kept there for several weeks. 
Sai — as our leopard was named — happened 
to be much larger than his brother, and he 
smothered him one day when they were 
romping together." 



316 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

"What a wicked little leopard !" ex- 
claimed Edith. 

" He probably did not intend to do it, 
dear/' replied her governess, "and very 
likely he missed his playmate sadly. — After 
this he was sent away to the English gov- 
ernor in another place, and there he was 
completely tamed. At meal-times he would 
sit beside his master and receive his share 
very quietly, only once or twice seizing a 
fowl, which he gave up at once for some- 
thing else. He tore a piece of flesh from a 
servant's leg when the man foolishly tried to 
pull his food away from him, but he never 
attacked him again. After a while Sai was 
considered so harmless that he roamed at 
large about the castle under the guardian- 
ship of a negro boy, who was to see that 
he did not get into the officers' apartment. 
The boy, instead of watching Sai, spent the 
time in sleeping, and one day, finding him 
sitting on the doorstep fast asleep, the leop- 
ard undertook to reprove him by lifting his 
paw and giving him a pat on the side of the 
head. This laid the boy flat, and Sai stood 
wagging his tail as though he enjoyed the 



A SPOTTED TIGER. 317 

joke. This pet animal became very much 
attached to his master, and followed him 
about like a dog. His favorite station was 
at a window in the sitting-room from which 
the whole town could be seen, and Sai was 
quite a picture himself as he stood there on 
his hind legs with his fore paws resting on 
the window-seat and his chin between them, 
apparently interested in all that w r as going 
on. The children, too, liked this window, 
and, finding the leopard in their way, they 
managed to pull him down by the tail. Sai 
was too good-natured to resent this, but he 
would have the window whenever he could 
get it. One day he missed his master, the 
governor, and started on a voyage of dis- 
covery after him with a very dejected ex- 
pression. While he was engaged in the 
search the governor returned to his room 
and sat down to write, but, hearing a heavy 
step coming up the stairs, he looked up and 
saw Sai at the open door. The leopard 
made one bound from the door to his mas- 
ter's neck, and the latter fully expected to 
be devoured, but, instead of this, he found 
himself covered with caresses. The de- 



318 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

lighted animal put his head close to the 
governor's, rubbed his cheek on his shoul- 
der, wagged his tail and tried his best to 
say, ' Fm so happy I don't know what to 
do !' " 

This was both " nice " and "dreadful," 
and the children asked if Sai didn't frighten 
other people too. 

"Yes," replied Miss Harson ; "the other 
inmates of the castle were sometimes 
alarmed, and ' on one occasion the woman 
whose duty it was to sweep the floors was 
made ill by her fright. She was sweeping 
the boards of the great hall with a short 
broom, and in an attitude approaching all- 
fours, when Sai, who was hidden under one 
of the sofas, suddenly leaped upon her 
back, where he stood waving his tail in 
triumph. She screamed so violently as 
to summon the other servants, but they, see- 
ing the leopard in the act of devouring her, 
as they thought, gallantly scampered off, 
one and all, as fast as their heels could 
carry them ; nor was the woman released 
from her load till the governor, hearing the 
noise, came to her assistance/ Sai's whole 



A SPOTTED TIGER. 319 

life was one of adventures, and not the 
most pleasant of these was his dip into the 
sea on the way to England. Although he 
was put into a large wooden cage thickly 
barred in front with iron, to be taken in a 
canoe to the ship, the natives were so afraid 
of him that they dropped the cage into the 
sea. Some sailors, however, jumped into 
a boat belonoqnor to the vessel and drag-ored 
him out in safety. Poor Sai was a wretched 
animal for several days, as no one dared to 
open his cage to dry it, and he stayed 
curled up in one corner until the voice 
of his mistress roused him. As soon as he 
heard the familiar tones he raised his head 
and listened ; then, when he really saw her, 
he bounded to his feet and seemed to go 
mad with joy, howling and rolling over and 
over. At last he contented himself with 
thrusting his nose and paws through the 
bars to be caressed." 

" And what became of him then ?" asked 
Edith, with great interest. " He's so nice !" 

"What! the 'wicked little leopard' that 
smothered his brother ?" said her governess, 
smiling. " Well, Edie, he had some pleasant 



320 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS 

ways, after all. He was a dainty leopard, 
too, and liked perfumery. His master first 
discovered this strange fancy — strange for an 
animal — by the leopard's snatching a scented 
pocket-handkerchief from him and tearing 
it to pieces, and it was not safe to open a 
bottle of perfumery when he was near. 
Twice a week on the voyage to England, 
Sai's mistress indulged him with lavender- 
water poured into a cup of stiff paper and 
put through the bars of his cage. He would 
drag it to him with delight, and roll him- 
self over it until the pleasant smell had 
quite evaporated." 

" How would it do to take some co- 
logne/' said Malcolm, " when we go to see 
a leopard in a menagerie ?" 

" I have no doubt that it would ' do ' very 
well, so far as the leopard is concerned," 
replied Miss Harson, "but I think we should 
need a little of it ourselves. — Another 
peculiarity of Sai's was his indignation at 
pigs when they lingered near his cage, and 
an orang-outang that came on board for a 
visit nearly set him frantic. The monkey 
would fly to the other side of the deck in 



A SPOTTED TIGER. 32 1 

the greatest terror, in his fright knocking 
over everything he encountered, while the 
leopard arched his back as a cat does, and 
his tail stood up stiff, his eyes flashed, and 
as he howled he showed his great teeth. 
Then he would make a desperate spring at 
the monkey to tear him to pieces, forgetting 
all about the iron bars of his cage." 

" Did he ever get to England, Miss Har- 
son ?" asked Clara. 

" Yes ; he arrived there safely after vari- 
ous mishaps, but very soon afterward he 
died suddenly of inflammation of the lungs. 
And this was the untimely end of the most 
interesting leopard ever known." 

" Miss Harson," said Edith, u are leopards 
always exactly alike?" 

" No, dear," was the reply; " there are 
at least three varieties, but the ordinary 
spotted leopard is the one best known. 
The black leopard is a larger animal, with 
a very long tail ; it is sometimes seen in 
menageries. There is also a hunting-leop- 
ard, called the cheetah, which is said to be- 
come as obedient as a dog, and to hunt 
quite as well; it is used in India for that 
21 



322 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

purpose. And it is a smaller animal than 
either of the others, with a longer and 
more pointed head." 

" Don't these hunting-leopards forget 
sometimes, and eat the animals themselves 
when they've caught 'em ?" asked Mal- 
colm. 

" They do not seem to do so when they 
are once trained, and their great swiftness 
and agility make them very valuable to 
their masters. The prophet Habakkuk says, 
' Their horses also are swifter than the leop- 
ards,' * which seems to imply that the leop- 
ard could outrun any other animal known 
in Palestine. Another prophet says, * Can 
the Ethiopian change his skin ? or the leop- 
ard his spots ?' The Hebrew name for the 
leopard means i spotted ' or * spotted one/ 
and it seems to make it even stronger to 
say, ' Can the spotted one change his 
spots ?' — See what is written, Clara, in 
Jeremiah." 

Clara read very carefully just the words 
that were wanted : 

'A leopard shall watch over their cities ; 

* Hab. i. 8. 



A SPOTTED TIGER. 323 

every one that goeth out thence shall be 
torn in pieces.' " * 

H In Hosea it is said, 4 As a leopard by 
the way will I observe them/ -f and both 
these verses show the habit of lying in 
wait to spring upon his prey for which this 
animal is well known. — What is your verse, 
Malcolm ? for I see that you have one." 

" ' The wolf also shall dwell with the 
lamb/ " read Malcolm, " ' and the leopard 
shall lie down with the kid.' ' 

u This would be the strangest of compan- 
ionships/' continued his governess, M for an 
animal that was especially the terror of the 
shepherd, upon whose flock he depended 
for a living. ' The mountains of the leop- 
ards ' are mentioned in the Sono- G f Solo- 
mon, showing in what wild kind of places 
these animals are apt to dwell. A beast 
formed like a leopard was seen both by 
Daniel the prophet and by John the Evan- 
gelist in a vision ; and now I think we have 
seen all the places in the Holy Scripture 
where the name is to be found." 

* Jer. v. 6. j* Hos. xiii. 7. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

HARMLESS GIANTS. 

"IV /T ISS H ARSON," said Clara, looking 
1VX very much puzzled, "why do peo- 
ple call other people ' giraffes' ?" 

"They do not, as a general thing," was 
the amused reply, "but I suppose you are 
thinking of the lady who was here yester- 
day, when she described some one as a 
' perfect giraffe/ She only meant by this 
that the person was unusually tall, for the 
giraffe is the tallest quadruped in the world. 
Think of an animal from sixteen to eigh- 
teen feet high — three times as tall as papa 
— and I believe giraffes are occasionally 
even taller than this." 

The children tried to imagine such a 
creature, who could not get into any room 
at Elmridge, and Malcolm said, as they 
looked at a picture in one of Miss Harson's 
books, 

324 



HARMLESS GIANTS. 325 

11 He's so funny and spotted — just like a 
queer kind of leopard. " 

" That is the reason of one of his names 
— * camelopard,' his long neck and legs be- 
ing the camel part, while the spots belong 
to the leopard. In ancient times, when 
people had strange ideas about a great 
many things, this animal was supposed to 
have a camel for its mother and a leopard 
for its father. Then sensible people who 
could not believe this fable said that there 
was no such animal in existence, and it was 
only when daring hunters went to Africa 
and brought live specimens back with them 
for the menageries that they changed their 
opinion. " 

"It's very funny-looking/' said Clara — 
"just as if it was walking on stilts. And 
it's eot such thin legfs ! That's like the 
camel." 

"Yet it does not belong to the camel 
family," replied her governess, "but to that 
of the deer. I see that you all look sur- 
prised, and I don't wonder at it. But, be- 
sides its slender legs and its great speed 
in running, you will find, in looking at the 



3^6 



DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 



head in the picture, something else that is 
like a deer." 

"I see!" cried Edith, in great delight at 




THE GIRAFFE. 



having found it ; " here are funny little horns 
just beginning/' 

" No, dear; they are not 'beginning/ 
because they are all the horns that a giraffe 



HARMLESS GIANTS. 7> 2 7 

ever has, and it does not shed them, as the 
deer does, every year. Neither does it 
fight with them, except when battling with 
another giraffe, and then the pair stand 
side by side and strike violent blows with 
these short horns, which tear off the skin. 
With the lion for a foe, the giraffe defends 
himself by kicking." 

"Well," said Malcolm, rather scornfully, 
"if I were the lion, I wouldn't mind that 
much." 

" Perhaps you would when you found how 
quickly the kicks came, and how straight to 
the point. 'A blow from limbs which can 
carry such an enormous weight over rocky 
passes would be likely to demolish the lion 
if it took full effect. Yet the lion, accord- 
ing to the accounts of the natives, is not 
always to be driven off by its formidable 
kicks, but watches for an opportunity to 
spring on the back of the giraffe, and never 
relaxes his hold until his prey sinks to the 
earth from the mingled effect of fear and 
loss of blood/ " 

" Lions and tigers kill a great many of 
the other wild animals, don't they, Miss 



328 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

Harson?" said Clara. "I shouldn't think 
there would be any others left." 

"There would not be," was the reply, 
"if these fiercer beasts of prey were al- 
lowed to increase very fast. And, besides 
this, they have roused such hatred in man 
that he pursues and destroys them contin- 
ually. Their numbers are so much less 
than they used to be that they are likely to 
be driven from the earth altogether. But 
to return to our giraffe. — You say, Malcolm, 
that among the other * queer' things about 
him his fore legs are longer than his hind 
ones. But this appearance is caused by the 
great depth of his chest and the unusual 
length of his shoulder-blades ; both pairs of 
legs are exactly the same. This extra-tall 
animal has not at all a ' pretty ' walk, the 
neck being stretched out in a line with the 
back, which gives him an awkward appear- 
ance, and his 'undulating canter' is not 
much better. For this performance ' the 
hind legs are lifted alternately with the 
fore, and are carried outside and beyond 
them by a kind of swinging movement ; 
when excited to a swifter pace, the hind 



HARMLESS GIANTS. 329 

legs are often kicked out, and the nostrils 
are then widely dilated. The remarkable 
gait is rendered still more automaton-like 
by the switching at regular intervals of the 
long black tail, which is invariably curled 
above the back, and by the corresponding 
action of the neck, swinging, as it does, like 
a pendulum, and giving the creature the 
appearance of a piece of machinery in 
motion/ This tail has on the end a bunch 
of w r avy hair which is very long, and it 
must be a great comfort to the giraffe in 
whisking off flies and nuisances. This an- 
imal's eyes stand out very far from the 
head, so that he can actually see objects be- 
hind him. This power is probably given 
him as a protection against the savage 
animals of his native country, as by see- 
ing them in time he can make his escape. " 

" But just think, Miss Harson !" said 
Edith, quite sorrowfully. " If I should ever 
see a giraffe, I couldn't see how his eyes 
looked, because he's so tall." 

" We might get a ladder," said her 
brother, teasingly, " and let you climb up 
on it and get a good view." 



330 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

" Never mind, dear," replied her gover- 
ness, with a caress ; " I will engage that 
when we see a giraffe you shall find out 
for yourself all that you wish to know 
about it. — And now I am going to tell you 
what a * queer affair ' his tongue is. You 
were very much interested in hearing of the 
wonderful things the elephant can do with 
his trunk and in seeing him take up grass 
with it at the Central Park ; but the tongue 
of the oriraffe seems even more wonderful 
because it is a tongue. 'With it the ani- 
mal can pull down small branches, pluck 
off leaves, take a piece of bread from the 
hand, roll up. a wisp of grass or pick up a 
piece of sugar from the ground. It is said 
that the giraffe possesses so complete a 
power over this organ that it can contract 
the tip sufficiently to put it into the tube of 
an ordinary key. The tongue is not only 
flexible, but powerful, and is sometimes 
put to rather unexpected uses by tame 
giraffes/ " 

" Please tell us what they do," said Clara ; 
" I know it's something funny." 

" It certainly looked so to the bystanders, 



HARMLESS GIANTS. 33 I 

but I doubt if the lady who lost her bonnet 
thought it very funny. Indeed, several 
ladies have been treated in the same way, 
and while admiring" the handsome animal so 
high above them the giraffe was at the same 
time admiring the artificial flowers and 
leaves in their bonnets. Presently that 
long, nimble tongue was twisted around 
the ornament, and the animal quickly 
munched and swallowed it with great satis- 
faction. Bonnets have been chewed, if not 
swallowed, and a giraffe always seems to 
think that what pleases the eye must be 
good to eat." 

This was funny enough to hear about 
when they were at a safe distance from the 
long-necked thieves, but Malcolm wondered 
that the pieces of wire in the flowers and 
leaves didn't choke the giraffe. 

" He must have some special apparatus 
for digesting artificial flowers/' replied the 
young lady, ''although in a wild state his 
diet is of the simplest kind. 4 The natural 
food of the giraffe is the leaves, tender 
shoots and blossoms of a singular species 
of mimosa called by the colonists " giraffe- 



332 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

thorn," which is found chiefly on dry places 
and sandy deserts. The great size of this 
tree, together with its thick and spreading 
top, shaped like an umbrella, distinguishes 
it at once from all others. The wood, of a 
dark-red color, is exceedingly hard and 
weighty, and it is extensively used by the 
Africans in the manufacture of spoons and 
other articles, many being ingeniously fash- 
ioned with their rude tools into the form 
of the giraffe.' " 

The little Kyles appeared to think that 
such spoons and toys would be very de- 
sirable to have, and Miss Harson promised 
that as soon as any of them made their 
way to America they should be gratified. 

" Tame giraffes have very odd fancies in 
the way of food," she continued, "and they 
have been seen to pluck the hairs out of 
one another's tails and swallow them." 

«0— h!" said Clara and Edith; "how 
horrid !" while Malcolm thought that the 
giraffe must be a sort of ostrich. 

" Very unexpected and ridiculous things 
are often done with those powerful tongues ; 
and an unfortunate peacock that was kept 



HARMLESS GIANTS. 333 

in an out-door enclosure with a giraffe 
found this out to his sorrow. It would 
seem that the tall, elegant animal could not 
put up with the vanity of the small object 
beneath him, for as the bird was spreading 
out his tail in the sunshine and prancing 
about, to the great admiration of his hum- 
ble-looking mate, the giraffe suddenly 
stooped his long neck, and, twining his flex- 
ible tongue around a bunch of the brilliant 
plumes, he lifted the owner into the air. 
Then, giving him a shake, he snatched five 
or six of the long feathers, when down flut- 
tered the astonished peacock, and scuffled 
off with the remains of his gorgeous train 
dragging feebly after him, instead of being 
spread out like a great Oriental fan." 

This punishing of the peacock was very 
much enjoyed, but it rather puzzled the 
children to hear a giraffe called " beautiful " 
and " elegant-looking." The description 
sounded to them like that of a very un- 
gainly animal. 

"Abundant room is required to show 
such immense creatures to advantage," 
replied their governess, "and they have 



334 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

quite a different appearance when con- 
fined to a small space ; but when roaming 
at large over the African plains, hunters 
declare that there is not a grander sight to 
be met than a herd of giraffes. Sometimes 
thirty or forty of them may be seen together, 
but usually there are about sixteen. * These 
herds are composed of giraffes of various 
sizes, from the young giraffe of nine or ten 
feet in height to the dark-chestnut-colored 
old bull of the herd, whose exalted head 
towers above his companions, generally at- 
taining to a height of upward of eighteen 
feet. The females are of lower stature and 
more delicately formed than the males, their 
height averaging from sixteen to seventeen 
feet.' i The giraffe/ says a famous hunter, 
'is one of the most strikingly beautiful an- 
imals in the creation ; and when a herd of 
them are seen scattered through a grove of 
picturesque, parasol-topped acacias which 
adorn their native plains, and on whose 
uppermost shoots they are enabled to 
browse by the colossal height with which 
Nature has so admirably endowed them, 
there is grace and dignity in all their move- 



HARMLESS GIANTS. 335 

ments. There can be no doubt that every 
animal is seen to the greatest advantage in 
the haunts which Nature designed him to 
adorn and among the various living creat- 
ures which beautify creation/ This hunter 
speaks of a strange resemblance which he 
has often noticed between animals and the 
places in which they are found, and adds, 
1 In the case of the giraffe — which is inva- 
riably met with among venerable forests 
where innumerable blasted and weather- 
beaten stumps and stems occur — I have re- 
peatedly been in doubt as to the presence 
of the animals until I had recourse to my 
spy-glass ; and on referring the case to my 
savage attendants I have known even their 
practiced optics to fail, at one time mis- 
taking their dilapidated trunks for camel- 
opards, and again confounding real camel- 
opards with these veterans of the forest/ " 
" I shouldn't think," said Malcolm, " that 
giraffes would look a bit like trees, except 
that they are so tall. But, Miss Harson, how 
can such big creatures ever be caught and 
brought all the way from Africa to England 
and America ?" 



336 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

" It is a very troublesome and expensive 
undertaking/' was the reply, " but, like 
many other difficult things, it is accom- 
plished by the will and resources of man. 
It is easier to kill any large animal than to 
take it alive, but, as we have already seen, 
pits are ingeniously constructed, into which 
the animals are enticed, then bound and con- 
veyed wherever their captors see fit. To get 
such an animal as the giraffe on board of 
a vessel requires the use of special machin- 
ery, which swings him off his feet, to his 
great surprise, and lands him safely on deck, 
where he is provided for during the passage, 
as it is quite impossible for such a passen- 
ger to ' go below/ The poor creature must 
have a sad time of it in such cramped quar- 
ters, and it is said of some giraffes that 
were taken to England many years ago 
that * when they entered the park and first 
caught sight of the green trees they became 
excited and hauled upon the reins, wav- 
ing the head and neck from side to side, 
with an occasional caracole and kick out of 
the hind legs/ They were coaxed along, 
however, with pieces of sugar — of which 



HARMLESS GIANTS. 337 

giraffes are very fond — and the gentle- 
man who brought them from Africa ' had 
the satisfaction of depositing his valuable 
charges without accident or misadventure 
in the sanded paddock prepared for their 
reception/ " 

" Doesn't it take a whole pound of sugar," 
asked Clara, "to make a single lump for a 
giraffe ?" 

"The amount is not stated, dear," was 
the laughing reply, " but I should think it 
would take at least that to go down two or 
three yards of throat and leave any taste at 
the end." 

" Isn't it funny," said Edith, " for such big, 
tall creatures to like lumps of sugar?" 

"It does seem odd, Edie, but many large 
animals, such as the horse and the elephant, 
are very fond of sugar. But these giraffes 
liked a great many other civilized things, 
judging from the bill of fare : * Each of the 
giraffes eats daily eighteen pounds of clover- 
hay and the same quantity of a mixed veg- 
etable diet, consisting of turnips, mangel- 
wurzel, carrots, barley and split beans ; in 
spring they have green tares and clover, 
22 



338 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

and are exceedingly fond of onions. It 
was curious to see the impatience they ex- 
hibited when a basket of onions was placed 
in view. Their mouths watered to a ludi- 
crous and very visible extent ; they pawed 
with their fore legs and rapidly paced back- 
ward and forward, stretching their long 
necks and sniffing up the pungent aroma 
with eager satisfaction. Each animal drinks 
about four gallons of water a day/ ' 

"That doesn't seem so very much," said 
Malcolm, " with two or three yards of throat 
for it to go down. I suppose that by the 
time they finish eating anything they've for- 
gotten how it tasted when they began." 

"And yet," said Miss Harson, "that 'two 
or three yards of throat/ as you call it — 
but which, if it were really there, would 
make the animal much taller than he is — 
with its sloping body, enable the giraffe to 
reach with ease its favorite food. 'Leaf by 
leaf is daintily plucked from the lofty branch 
by the pliant tongue, and a mouthful of ten- 
der and juicy food is especially accumulated. 
Erect on those stilt-like legs, the giraffe sur- 
veys the wide expanse and feels at ease ; 



HARMLESS GIANTS. 339 

for those mild, large eyes are so placed that 
it can see not only on all sides, but even 
behind, rendering it next to impossible for 
an approach undiscovered. Thus care- 
fully does a merciful Creator provide for the 
g-ood of all his creatures/' 



CHAPTER XVII. 

NEITHER PRETTY NOR GOOD, 

" T T looks like a dog and a pig and a 

X tiger and a porcupine," said Malcolm, 
"and it's just too ugly for anything !" 

"And no wonder," replied his governess, 
laughing, " if four different animals are 
rolled into one. But the hyena is certainly 
no beauty, and it is, besides, quite as dis- 
agreeable as it looks. It has a right to re- 
semble its cousin the dog, and the mouth 
and the snout are like those of a pig. The 
stripes are very much like those of the 
tiger, and the bristly hairs on the back re- 
mind one of the porcupine." 

" He looks wicked too," said Edith as 
they examined the picture of a hyena in a 
book before them. "And what queer legs 
he's got !" 

"Yes, dear; they are very long and un- 

340 



NEITHER PRETTY NOR GOOD. 34 1 

even, the fore legs being longer than the 
hind ones ; and this gives the animal a very 
queer, awkward look. It moves, says a 
naturalist, ' with a kind of shambling shuffle 
that gives it a sneaking appearance too 
well borne out by its character. The ex- 
pression of its countenance is that of un- 
tamable, ill-natured ferocity, and its voice 
resembles an exulting, demoniacal laugh. 
Altogether, it is about as unprepossessing 
an animal as can well be imagined. Its 
habits are such as to deepen the unfavo- 
rable impression which its personal ap- 
pearance never fails to create, for it most- 
ly derives its food from dead bodies of men 
and animals, for the one robbing the cem- 
eteries, for the other scouring the streets 
if it lives near mankind, or following the 
track of the lion and other beasts if it lives 
in the desert, and disputing the prey with 
them/ " 

" Oh !" exclaimed Clara, shuddering ; 
"what a horrible creature! I hope it isn't 
found in our country. Is it, Miss Harson ?" 

"No; it is found only in Africa and in 
some parts of Asia, for God has put it in 



342 



DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 



the very places where it is best for it to 
be." 

"But why/' asked Malcolm, " is it best 
for it to be anywhere?" 




-> — «*&»><" 

THE HYENA. 

" We shall see," was the reply. "But first 
let us notice the powerfully strong jaws and 
teeth. The muscles and bones of its neck, 
too, are so hard that in olden times people 
believed the neck to be made without any 
joint. This peculiar construction of the 
neck and jaws gives the hyena a great pow- 
er of holding on to his prey when once he 
gets possession of it. * The best-natured 
dog, you know, snarls very much when you 



NEITHER PRETTY NOR GOOD. 343 

try to get out of his paws a bone which he 
has begun to gnaw, but to snatch such a thing 
from the hyena would be quite impossible. 
The Arabs know this so well that they have 
given him a name which means "obstinacy" 
"stubbornness." His tongue is rough, as 
is the cat's, being covered with little spines 
bent backward like the lion's tongue, and 
it serves the same purpose — that is, to 
scrape the flesh quite clean off the larger 
bones.' It is said that he crunches up 
bones with great relish, just as some peo- 
ple crack nuts with their teeth, and that he 
eats every fragment of them, all that the 
hyenas leave of a dead animal being the 
horns, hoofs and skull. The jaws of lions 
and tigers, although very powerful, do not 
compare with those of the hyena." 

11 This makes him very horrid," said Mal- 
colm, " but what has it got to do with his 
beinor n } ce to have around?" 

"I will tell you," replied his governess, 
11 for, although I have not said that he is 
'nice to have around,' yet he may really be 
considered so when compared with the con- 
sequences of not having him. In hot coun- 



344 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

tries where the hyena is found meat very 
soon spoils or becomes putrid, and the dead 
bodies of animals, as well as those of hu- 
man beings, are often left in the streets. 
Travelers say that there are many towns in 
Africa where people could not live without 
the useful hyenas. ' With the disregard for 
human life which prevails throughout all 
savage portions of that country, the rulers 
of these towns order executions almost 
daily, the bodies of the victims being al- 
lowed to lie where they happen to fall. 
No one chooses to touch them, lest they 
should also be added to the list of victims, 
and the decomposing bodies would soon 
cause a pestilence but for the hyenas, who 
assemble at night round the bodies, and 
by the next morning have Teft scarcely a 
trace of the murdered men/ " 

" Does not everybody hate such dread- 
■ ful creatures ?" asked Clara. 

" It seems impossible to help it, and yet 
it is not reasonable when God has made 
them for this very purpose. ' He has made 
the hyenas and animals of the dog kind, 
besides several birds — of which the vulture 



NEITHER PRETTY NOR GOOD. 345 

is the first — to feed on dead bodies, and to 
prefer flesh in a putrid state to that of an- 
imals newly killed. We may not admire 
this taste, but you know all creatures must 
be made with a liking or an appetite for 
their work, or they would not do it prop- 
erly. These, too, are God's hosts — his 
servants who do all his pleasure.' ' 

"Then the hyenas clean up the streets, 
do they, Miss Harson ?" said Malcolm. 

" Yes," replied his governess; "that is 
just the work that is given them to do. 
They act as scavengers ; and in such a hot 
country as Africa, where the inhabitants 
are careless and dirty, hyenas, loathsome 
as they seem to us, are perfect blessings — 
just as if carts were taken through the vil- 
lages at night to take away all the unlovely 
and badly-smelling offal where it would 
never offend eyes or nose again. But 
these animals are detested and persecuted 
even where they do the most good, and 
they are caught and killed in every possi- 
ble way. Pitfalls are laid for them or they 
are hunted to their dens, and as soon as an 
animal is killed its skin is stripped off* and 



346 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

carried about, every one who sees it pay- 
ing a trifle for the pleasure of knowing that 
there is one hyena less in the world. After- 
ward the skin is dressed by rubbing it with 
lime and salt and steeping it in the waters 
of the Dead Sea. It is then made into 
sandals and leggins, which are thought to 
be powerful charms, and to defend the 
wearer from the hyena's bite/' 

" Then they eat live people too ?" said 
Clara. " I suppose that is why everybody 
is so glad when one is killed." 

" No ; they do not eat live people, be- 
cause, in spite of their power to do harm, 
hyenas are very cowardly, and they will 
not attack even an animal that is able to 
defend itself. The hyena will pursue any- 
thing that runs from him, and then he is quite 
courageous, but he has a cautious way of 
selecting his victims. ' When, therefore, he 
is about to attack any living animal, he first 
sets up a tremendous howl and gnashing 
his teeth. At this sound those animals 
which are in health trust to their speed and 
scamper off, while those which are deprived 
of their speed by illness turn round and 



NEITHER PRETTY NOR GOOD. 347 

boldly face him, whereat he prudently 
leaves them and chases the fugitives. So, 
fearing man, but having a liking for human 
flesh, the hyena comes silently by night and 
steals away sleeping children from the very 
arms of their mothers, and that so quietly 
that the unfortunate parent is often uncon- 
scious of her loss until roused by the cries 
of her infant as the thief is carrying it off/ " 
. The children now declared that lions and 
tigers and leopards, and all the other ani- 
mals, were delightful in comparison with this 
horrible hyena, and they wished that every 
one in the world could be killed. 

Miss Harson acknowledged that she had 
very much the same feeling herself; yet if 
these fierce unclean creatures were all de- 
stroyed, dreadful pestilences would soon 
sweep all the inhabitants from the regions 
in which they were found. 

"The striped hyena," continued the 
young lady, " is found in the northern part 
of Africa, and the spotted hyena in the 
southern part. An African traveler writes 
of these animals: 'These creatures were a 
general scourge to Abyssinia in every situ- 



348 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

ation, both of the city and the field, and 
they seem to surpass even the sheep in 
number. From evening till the dawn of 
day the town of Gondar was full of them. 
Here they sought the different pieces of 
slaughtered carcasses which this cruel and 
unclean people were accustomed to expose 
in the streets without burial. Many a time 
in the night, when the king had kept me 
late in the palace, on going across the 
square from the king's house I have been 
apprehensive lest they should bite me on 
the leg. They grunted in great numbers 
around me, although I was surrounded by 
several armed men, who seldom passed a 
night without wounding or slaughtering 
several of them. One night, being very 
intent on an observation, I heard something 
pass behind me toward the bed, but on 
looking round I could perceive nothing. 
Having finished what I was then about, I 
went out of my tent, resolving to return 
directly; this I immediately did, and in so 
doing perceived two large blue eyes glaring 
at me in the dark. I called my servant to 
bring a light, and we found a hyena stand- 



NEITHER PRETTY NOR GOOD. 349 

ing near the head of the bed with two or 
three large bunches of candles in his mouth. 
To have fired at him would have been at 
the risk of breaking my quadrant or other 
furniture, and he seemed, by keeping the 
candles steadily in his mouth, to wish at 
that time for no other prey. As his mouth 
was full and he had no claws to tear with, 1 
was not afraid of him, and with a pike I 
struck him as near the heart as I could. It 
was not until I had done this that he showed 
any signs of fierceness, but upon feeling 
his wound he dropped the candles and en- 
deavored to run up the shaft of the spear 
to arrive at me ; so that I was obliged to 
draw a pistol from my girdle and shoot him, 
and nearly at the same time my servant 
cleft his skull with a battle-axe. In a word, 
the hyenas were the plague of our lives — 
the terror of our ni^ht-walks and the de- 
struction of our mules and asses, which 
above everything else w 7 ere their favorite 
food/ " 

" Miss Harson," asked Edith, in great 
surprise, "was the hyena going to eat the 
candles ?" 



3 SO DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

" He certainly was, Edie, although we 
could not enjoy such a meal. But the 
hyena will eat anything, and I do not sup- 
pose that one has ever been killed yet by 
what he swallowed. " 

" Does a hyena really laugh," asked 
Malcolm, "or is that all made up?" 

" He really does," replied his governess, 
"and this laugh is described as a curious 
cackling noise which he varies with the 
most dreary cries, and it used to be thought 
that he tried to imitate the voice of a man 
to entice travelers to go and see what was 
the matter, that he might devour them. But 
he makes this noise naturally, just as lions 
and tigers roar, and, as it is heard only 
after the sun goes down, the doleful sound 
always has a melancholy eHect upon the 
traveler : 

" ' The fiendlike laugh of the hyenas grim 
Fearfully startles the twilight dim.' 

Here is a picture," continued Miss Har- 
son, picking up a book lying near at hand, 
"of one of these horrible creatures who on 
one of his nightly raids has suddenly come 



352 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

upon two sleeping men. They had jour- 
neyed far during the day, and as the night 
came on were glad to pitch their tent and 
rest. The hyena's den is not nice and clean, 
like the lion's, but is full of bones of animals 
and other refuse from former meals, which 
have been accumulating for years. But it 
just suits him, and here he rests with his 
family through the day, when he is quiet 
enough ; but when twilight comes he be- 
gins to listen, and presently he hears the 
roar of the lion." 

" That frightens him, I suppose ?" said 
Clara. 

11 Not a bit of it! On the contrary, he is 
very much pleased, for he knows that the 
king of the beasts is getting his supper, and 
that he will probably leave some of it for 
him. * So up he gets and follows at a very 
respectful distance, and presently may be 
heard that extraordinary cackling laugh, 
half grotesque and half fearful. Very 
probably the brute has come upon the re- 
mains which the lion has left, and this is his 
way of expressing his joy that he is going 
to have a good meal without the trouble of 



NEITHER PRETTY NOR GOOD. 353 

killing, or any danger to himself. Or it may 
be that he has alighted on the body of a 
camel which has perished by the wayside, 
spent with fatigue and hunger. The sport 
will soon attract others of his kind, and the 
first comer will be fiercely assailed, the wild 
shrieks of the struggling, yelling, battling 
antagonists making night hideous, until 
they sullenly agree to share the booty with 
one another. After he has done eating he 
next thinks of drinking. Where is he going, 
I wonder, by the light of that moon which 
shines so wonderfully bright? We have 
never seen such here, not even at the har- 
vest-time, when she is round and full and 
the reapers continue binding their sheaves 
by the light of her beams. He does not 
seem to be going toward any stream or 
river, as wild beasts generally do to quench 
their thirst, but away where the sands glis- 
ten white, and where rows of great tall 
pillars, and monstrous stones half buried 
in the sand, and gateways and temples far 
higher than our church-steeples, are stretch- 
ing for miles and miles away/ ' 

" That seems to be too nice a place for 

23 



354 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

the hyena," said Malcolm as Miss Harson 
paused to turn over the leaves of the 
Bible. 

" It was too nice a place — or, rather, there 
are many such places mentioned in Script- 
ure, large, beautiful, and wealthy cities, of 
which Babylon and Nineveh were the most 
prominent. But for the wickedness of 
their inhabitants God destroyed them, first 
warning them by his prophet in such words 
as these: 'Mine heritage is unto me as a 
speckled bird; the birds round about are 
against her; come ye, assemble all the 
beasts of the field, come to devour/ * A 
writer on such subjects says that ' a speckled 
bird ' is supposed to mean the hyena, of 
whom there is no direct mention in Script- 
ure; but this animal was then common in 
Palestine, and would, at any rate, haunt the 
ruined cities among the other * beasts of the 
field/ He goes to these places for water 
to drink, for there are * places made by the 
Egyptians for keeping stores of Nile water 
at some distance from the river, and many 
other wild beasts go there for the same 

*Jer. xii. 9. 



NEITHER PRETTY NOR GOOD. 



355 



purpose. Some of them make their dens 
among these wonderful temples and tombs, 
so that they may still be called beasts' pal- 
aces ; for, except a few Arabs who live in 
some miserable huts close by the river-side, 
there are no people. Jackals, wild boars, 
dragons and owls fill the midnight air with 
their melancholy howlings and their dismal 
shrieks, and the hyena's wild laugh is heard 
in those places where once there were joy- 
ous feasting and merry dancing." 




CHAPTER XVIII. 

DISTANT RELATIONS. 

"1VTOW," said Clara, expectantly, "we 
X \l must be coming to monkeys, I think, 
because there doesn't seem to be anything 
else left." 

"A very good reason/' replied her gov- 
erness, smiling, " and I have left monkeys 
till the last because they are more like man 
than is any other animal. You will remem- 
ber how exactly some of those monkeys at 
the Park looked like queer little old men, 
and this was especially the case with the 
chimpanzee, which, being an ape, has no 
tail, or only the beginning of one. There 
are apes, baboons and monkeys ; and the 
name of the first species is very significant. 
Can any one tell me for what trait the 
monkey is most distinguished?" 

"Isn't it mimicking-?" asked Malcolm. 

856 



DISTANT RELATIONS. 357 

" Yes ; to mimic — or ape, as it used to be 
called — is common to the whole monkey- 
tribe, and it seems to make them very 
human. Another habit which these ani- 
mals are supposed to indulge in is that of 
standing and walking upright, like bipeds 
instead of quadrupeds. But naturalists say 
that this is a mistake, and that no monkey 
can rest on his hind le^s alone without a 
great effort ; those that do it to any extent 
are trained animals. When obliged to stand 
upright, they will support themselves with 
their hands, if possible, and the manner in 
which they are formed shows that they are 
naturally quadrupeds, intended to go on all- 
fours. 'The head, too, is set on the neck in 
quite a different manner from the human 
head. The head of the monkey, like that 
of the quadruped, is set on very far back, 
forcing nearly the whole of the face forward 
and downward.' " 

"That seems very strange," said Clara. 
" I thought monkeys always stood up on 
two legs, unless they are sitting down or 
climbing trees." 

" People generally think so," replied Miss 



358 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

Harson, " but it seems that they get very 
tired of doing as we do in this respect. 
Monkeys flourish in the tropics, and the 
Indian and South American forests are full 
of them. There they chatter and scold and 
leap from bough to bough all day long, eat- 
ing fruit and insects and showing great inge- 
nuity in catching their living food. They are 
not always satisfied, however, with the fruit 
to which they have a natural right, but, 
gathering in a large band, they will ravage 
orchards and other cultivated grounds and 
do a great deal of mischief in a short time. 
' It is said that they will silently strip the 
trees of their fruit and convey their ill-got- 
ten spoils into their own domains by pass- 
ing it from hand to hand along the line of 
monkeys, which have arranged themselves 
at regular distances from the forest to the 
orchard/ " 

"I shouldn't think, then/' said Edith, 
" that any one would like monkeys.'' 

"What, then, would you think," asked 
her governess, " if I should tell you that 
there are some people who actually wor- 
ship monkeys ?" 



360 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

" Oh, Miss Harson !" exclaimed the chil- 
dren, in great horror. " Do they, really ?" 

" I am sorry to say that this is really done 
in some parts of India, and the monkey is 
generally regarded as a sacred animal by 
the natives of that country. * Conse- 
quently/ we are told, 'it takes up its quar- 
ters near human habitations, feeling sure 
that it will not be injured and knowing that 
plenty of food is at hand. It is said that in 
some places the natives always leave one- 
tenth of their grain-crops for the monkeys, 
and thus the animals content themselves 
with this offering and refrain from devastat- 
ing the fields, as they would otherwise do. 
In many places where grain- and fruit-crops 
are cultivated the monkeys get rather more 
than their share, plundering without scruple 
and finding- no hindrance from the rightful 
owners, who dare not drive them away 
lest they should injure any of these sacred 
beings/" 

"What silly people they must be !" said 
Malcolm. 

"They are ignorant and superstitious 
people/' was the reply, "but the knowledge 




TEASING A CROCODILE. 



362 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

of the true God and Saviour is gradually 
enlightening them through the missionary 
labors of his faithful servants. 

" India and its islands — especially that of 
Ceylon — Africa and South America are the 
peculiar haunts of the monkey tribe. These 
monkeys seem to take special delight in 
teasing the crocodiles. They hang on to a 
branch of a tree by their hands or tails, and, 
leaning down, almost reach to the croco- 
dile's mouth. It was from Ceylon that King 
Solomon is thought to have obtained his 
apes." 

"Why, Miss Harson," said Malcolm, in 
a surprised tone, "are monkeys spoken of 
anywhere in the Bible ?" 

"Read what is said in First Kings," re- 
plied his governess. 

Malcolm was still more surprised at the 
words, " For the king had at sea a navy of 
Tharshish with the navy of Hiram ; once in 
three years came the navy of Tharshish, 
bringing gold and silver, ivory, and apes, 
and peacocks." * 

"I do not wonder," continued the young 

* I Kings x. 22. 



DISTANT RELATIONS. 363 

lady, " that you should think monkeys are 
not mentioned in the Bible, for they are not 
to be found in the Scriptures under that 
name, and so very little is said about this 
species of animal by the sacred writers that 
there is no reason to suppose there were 
any monkeys living in Palestine. The apes 
which were brought to Kino- Solomon are 
thought to have been taken from the island 
of Ceylon or from India, because in both 
these places ' gold and silver, ivory, apes 
and peacocks,' are found together. But 
for various other reasons Ceylon is sup- 
posed to be the Tharshish of the Bible." 

" Miss Harson," asked Edith, " what did 
King Solomon want monkeys for?" 

" It is thought, dear, that this great king 
sent for them, as he did for many other ani- 
mals, that he might see what they were 
like and might study their habits, for his 
constant desire was to add to his great 
stock of knowledge, and we are told that 
he wrote largely of the various productions 
of the earth. With plenty of ships and 
plenty of money, he would naturally send 
for everything strange that he heard of, and 



364 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

apes must have seemed queer creatures in- 
deed to those not accustomed to them." 

"I wonder/' said Clara, "what kind of 
monkeys King Solomon had?" 

" Probably all the varieties to be found in 
the place then called Tharshish, and among 
them the mischievous hoonuman, or sacred 
monkey of India, which we have just been 
considering. It is said to be quite a pretty 
animal, with a tawny body and a black face ; 
and when captured young, it is full of 
amusing tricks. The wanderoo, which is 
also found both in India and in Ceylon, is 
one of the queerest-looking creatures imag- 
inable, and likely, for this very reason, to 
have been among the monkeys in King 
Solomon's collection. The head looks like 
a big brush on a stock of wheat, while the 
queer tail has a thick tuft at the end. The 
mass of hair, as it descends from the face 
to the shoulder, is much lighter than the 
hair on other monkeys, and it seems that, 
while on the head it is nearly black, it be- 
comes gray, and almost white, lower down. 
This mane is not seen at all on very young 
animals, and it increases in size and lightness 



DISTANT RELATIONS. 365 

of color as the wearer grows older. ' In cap- 
tivity the general demeanor of this monkey 
corresponds with its grave and dignified as- 
pect. It seems to be more sedate than the 
ordinary monkeys, to judge from the speci- 
mens which have lived in the zoological crar- 
dens, and sits peering with its shiny brown 
eyes out of the enormous mane with as much 
gravity as if it were really a judge deciding 
an important case in law. Not that it will 
not condescend to the little tricks and play- 
ful sallies for which the monkeys are so 
celebrated, but it soon loses the vivacity of 
youth, and when full grown presents as 
great a contrast to its former vivacity as 
does a staid full-grown cat sitting by the 
fire to the restless, lively, playful kitten of 
three months old. During its growth it can 
be taught to go through quite a number 
of amusing performances, but it has little 
of the quick, mercurial manner which is 
generally found in the various branches of 
the monkey tribe. But an old wanderoo 
with a whitened mane is apt to be a treach- 
erous and spiteful animal.' " 

"Monkeys are so funny!" said Malcolm. 



366 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

" I don't see why they can't be kept chained 
up, as some dogs are." 

" Because they are very delicate animals/' 
replied his governess, " and they will not 
live unless carefully housed and provided 
for. They are so full of pranks, too, which, 
although very amusing, are not at all safe ; 
and when a captive monkey once manages 
to get free, there is no end to the mischief it 
will accomplish. If a monkey cannot do 
one thing of this sort, it will do another ; and 
a naturalist says, 'I once saw the keeper at 
the zoological gardens feeding the monkeys 
with slices of turnip and carrot. After he 
had fed one set of monkeys, he turned 
around to feed the others. Scarcely had 
he moved when a paw was protruded from 
one of the cages and busily occupied in 
ransacking the keeper's pockets. How- 
ever, the keeper was accustomed to such 
tricks, and had placed in his pocket entire 
turnips and carrots, which the monkey 
could not draw between the bars/ Small 
monkeys are very fond of insects, and 
beetles are especial favorites with them. 
Owing to this weakness, a hard-working 



DISTANT RELATIONS. 367 

naturalist met with a dreadful loss. 'One 
day he left open a valuable work containing 
colored figures of beetles by which he had 
been making out the species. A small 
monkey which he had in confinement es- 
caped from its prison, and unfortunately 
entered the room where the beetles were 
kept. Of course such a prize was not to 
be withstood. There were two opportuni- 
ties presented to it here, each of them at- 
tractive to a monkey. First, there was a 
splendid chance of doing considerable mis- 
chief; and secondly, there were several 
hundred beetles lying helpless before it. 
So the monkey immediately commenced 
operations. When the naturalist re-entered 
his room, his horror was very great to find 
that the monkey had pinched all the figures 
of beetles from the book and eaten them.' " 

" Oh !" said the children ; " what a horrid 
little animal ! Wasn't he punished, Miss 
Harson ?" 

"Yes," was the reply, "but not in the 
way you mean, for all the dead beetles fas- 
tened by pins in the boxes had also been 
devoured. The monkey had run away after 



368 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

doing all this mischief, and the angry ento- 
mologist went in search of him, resolving 
that he should not get off without the pun- 
ishment he so richly deserved. But he found 
the poor creature already punished enough, 
for in his fear of being caught before he 
had swallowed all the beetles he made such 
haste that he also swallowed the pins on 
which they were fastened. He suffered 
terribly until the next day, when death came 
to his relief." 

"Poor monkey !" said Edith, sympathiz- 
ingly. " But he knew all the time that he 
was doing wrong, or he wouldn't have hur- 
ried so." 

" He certainly did know, dear, and his 
wrong-doing, as is often the case, brought its 
own punishment. But the sagacity of monk- 
eys and their almost human propensities are 
very wonderful, and the stories told to illus- 
trate these characteristics are often difficult 
to believe. They are quite capable, how- 
ever, of affection, unless their confidence is 
shaken, and then all the kindnesses and 
familiar intercourse of the past go for noth- 
ing. A naturalist in South America hap- 



DISTANT RELATIONS. 369 

pened to find a funny little monkey which 
seemed to take a great fancy to him, al- 
though he had a very comical way of show- 
ing it. Another monkey, it seems, was in 
the habit of using a domestic pig as a horse, 
and, seizing it in the morning, it would ride 
on its back all day while it wandered about 
in search of food." 

This seemed like a circus, and the chil- 
dren were wonderfully amused. 

" This particular monkey," continued their 
governess, " belonged to the Jackowai tribe, 
which are quite small, and he treated his 
human friend very much as the other 
monkey treated the pig. ' Nothing pleased 
him better/ says the naturalist, 'than to 
perch on my shoulder, when he would en- 
circle my neck with his long hairy tail and 
accompany me in all my rambles. His tail 
formed a not very agreeable neckcloth with 
the thermometer above one hundred de- 
grees, but he seemed so disappointed when 
I refused to carry him that it was impossible 
to leave him behind. In appearance he was 
particularly engaging, squirrel-like in form, 
with a light-brown coat slightly tinged with 

24 



370 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

yellow, and arms and legs of a reddish cast, 
pleasingly contrasting with a pale face and 
small black muzzle. The expression and 
merry twinkle of his sparkling black eye 
betokened fun, roguery and intelligence/ 

"This species of monkey, although so 
small, is said to be very fierce, and even to 
resemble the flesh-eating animals in habits 
and disposition. Fortunately, as this par- 
ticular monkey insisted on being carried, he 
had business in the same places that at- 
tracted his master, for both were insect- 
hunters, but Jacky was much the better one 
of the two. He would sit perfectly still 
for hours among flowering branches that 
were constantly visited by bees and butter- 
flies, and then pounce suddenly on them 
when they least expected it. 

"'A troublesome monkey' was a very 
appropriate name for this queer little pet, 
and to keep him out of mischief it was 
necessary to amuse him like a child. But 
a flower or a piece of paper would do this, 
because he could enjoy the pleasure of pull- 
ing them to pieces. Then he would throw 
the fragments G n the water and watch them 



DISTANT RELATIONS. 37 1 

with great interest as they sailed away, evi- 
dently * making believe ' that they were little 
boats. He was dreadfully afraid of orettinor 
himself wet, particularly his hands and feet, 
in this respect showing a very different dis- 
position from a large long-haired black monk- 
ey belonging to a family settled a short dis- 
tance from our residence. 

" This large one was a wonderfully tame 
monkey, but poor little Jackowinki was ter- 
ribly afraid of him, because, with the usual 
mischief-loving propensity of his race, he 
had once seized him and ducked him in the 
river. He also went with his master on all 
his expeditions which were for shooting 
and fishinor taking his seat in the canoe 
and using his small paddle for hours to- 
gether, and never once getting 'out of 
stroke.' Now and then he would lean over 
the side of the boat and wash his hands, 
and he also took a daily bath in the river. 
The first thine in the morning was to clean 
his teeth by taking a mouthful of water 
and making a tooth-brush of his finder. 

"The end of the naturalist's friendship 
with little Jacky was not pleasant. Wishing 



372 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

to obtain a specimen of these queer little 
monkeys for stuffing", the gentleman shot 
one while he and his companion were on 
their usual trip up the creek, but this had a 
strange effect upon his hitherto devoted lit- 
tle friend. i When he saw his brother fall, 
he seemed instantly to understand that I 
was a murderer. He took immediate re- 
venge. He sprang to my shoulder, tore a 
handful of hair from my head and swiftly 
clambered among the overhanging branches. 
When I recovered from surprise at this un- 
expected attack, he had paused in his flight, 
and, with his face turned toward me, was 
grinning, showing his sharp little teeth and 
throwing down glances of fierceness and 
hate/ " 

" He must have been glad to get rid of 
a pet like that," said Clara. 

"Glad, when he turned out such a fury," 
was the reply, " yet he probably missed the 
amusing little creature very much in the 
lonely life he was leading. — Monkeys are 
not usually amiable, and a slight thing will 
often put them into a passion. The owner 
of a tame orang-outang described him as 



DISTANT RELATIONS. 373 

being like a spoiled child — ' agreeable and 
gentle so long as he had his own way, but 
pettish and irritable if he were opposed or 
contradicted/ One day his master took 
away some fruit that he had stolen, and the 
monkey tried to get it back, but, not suc- 
ceeding, he began to whine and cry and 
pout out his lips. Finally his master re- 
lented, and, going up to him in a coaxing 
manner, handed him the fruit. But the 
naughty animal clutched it viciously and 
threw it at the gentleman's head." 

11 He was bad-tempered enough," said 
Malcolm ; " did he do anything funny ?" 

11 Yes. When he was first taken to his 
residence, ■ he collected ail the linen he 
could lay his hands upon, carried it into his 
room and covered the walls with it. Hav- 
ing completed these arrangements, he found 
a napkin, rolled himself up in it and took 
formal possession of his new home." 



CHAPTER XIX. 

VERY QUEER CREATURES. 

I SUPPOSE," said Miss Harson, ad- 
dressing her little flock, " that if you 
were asked whether monkeys ever built 
nests in trees, like birds, you would say 
' No/ and would think the person foolish 
for asking such a question ?" 

" Do they build nests?" asked Edith, 
directly. 

" They really do," was the reply — " that 
is, a certain species does, but it is a species 
very little known, and it has only an African 
name which none of us could pronounce. 
This kind of monkey is an ape. You have 
not forgotten, I hope, that apes are without 
tails ? They are also more human-looking 
than other monkeys. Only one nest is 
found in a single tree, and this tree always 
stands a little apart from other trees and 

374 



VERY QUEER CREATURES. 375 

has no branches below the one on which the 
nest is placed, about fifteen or twenty feet 
from the ground. These nests are found 
only in the deepest parts of the forest, and 
the occupants are seldom seen even by the 
natives. The nest is really a species of hut, 
as it has a roof made of leafy branches 
tied to the tree with vines, and the work is 
said to be as neatly done as human hands 
could do it. * The material being collected, 
the male goes up and builds the nest, while 
the female brings him the branches and 
vines. The male and female do not occupy 
the same tree, but have nests not far apart. 
The nests are never found in companies, 
and solitary nests have been seen occu- 
pied by old nshiegos whose silvery hair and 
worn teeth attested their great age. These 
seemed to be hermits who had retired from 
the Nshiego world. They live on wild ber- 
ries and build their houses where they find 
these. When they have consumed all that 
a particular spot affords, they remove and 
build new houses ; so that a nest is not in- 
habited for more than eight or ten days.' " 
"Then," said Malcolm, " they must keep 



376 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

hard at work building- houses. I shouldn't 
think they'd like that fun much up those 
high trees." 

"It is rather unusual to move and build 
a new house almost every week, but that is 
their way, and it is not likely that they think 
of its being- a burden. These queer creat- 
ures sleep sitting up in their nests, with the 
feet resting on the lower branch and the 
head reaching up into the roof, while one 
arm is clasped firmly around the tree-trunk. 
It is supposed that they perch themselves 
up so high to be out of the way of wild 
beasts and serpents. " 

" But leopards could climb up after 'em," 
said Clara. " Couldn't they, Miss Harson ?" 

"I do not see why not, dear," was the 
reply, " but nothing is said about it." 

" Aren't there some immense monkeys in 
Africa that look like men ?" asked Malcolm. 

" I think," said his governess, " that you 
mean gorillas, for they are of a great size 
and look like very ugly negroes. They are 
ferocious as well as powerful animals, and, 
although sometimes killed, they are rarely 
taken alive even when very young, as a 




GORILLAS. 



378 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

small baby-gorilla is one of the most savage 
and spiteful creatures in existence.'' 

" Do they kill people ?" asked Edith. 

"The babies do not, dear," was the smil- 
ing reply, "as they run away when seen by 
man, but a grown gorilla makes a savage 
onset. He is like an ogre who 'smells the 
blood of an Englishman/ and the first 
sign of his approach in the forest is a noise 
of breaking down branches of trees. As 
he advances there is a fearful ' barking 
roar ' that seems to fill the whole woods 
and sounds at times like distant thunder." 

" Miss Harson," asked Edith, with great 
interest, "did a hunter ever find a little 
baby-gorilla ?" 

"One did once, dear," replied her gover- 
ness, laughing at the recollection — "or, 
rather, his men found it for him ; and a 
troublesome baby it proved. A young goril- 
la is very seldom seen, but some negroes 
once came suddenly upon a mother and her 
little one as they were eating berries. The 
mother was shot, and the youngster quick- 
ly climbed a small tree, where he sat and 
roared at his enemies as savagely as pos- 



VERY QUEER CREATURES. 379 

sible. It was very difficult to get at him 
without being bitten, but finally they cut 
down the tree, and caught the little ororilla 
by throwing a cloth over his head and then 
tying him. He managed, however, to bite 
two of the men. He was astonishingly 
strong, although a mere baby of a gorilla, 
and, as he kept rushing at his captors, ihey 
were obliged to put his neck into a forked 
stick, so that he could not get away, and 
yet could be kept at a safe distance. He 
roared and bellowed when he reached the 
village, and a strong bamboo cage was 
made for him as soon as possible, the slats 
being arranged so that he could see outside, 
and could also be seen." 

" Did he ever get tame ?" asked Clara. 

" Never. He raved and stormed at all 
who came near him, broke loose twice and 
was recaptured, and * finally he seemed 
to die out of sheer spite, as there was ap- 
parently nothing the matter with him. He 
was very much the color of the house-build- 
ing monkey, and his eyes and cheeks were 
sunken like those of the older gorilla. His 
arms and legs were finished with wonder- 



380 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

fully human-looking hands. The only 
' cunning' thing this ferocious little animal 
did was to get into the barrel of hay that 
had been put in his cage for a bed. ' He 
recognized it at once, and it was pretty to 
see him shake up the hay and creep into 
this nest when he was tired. At night he 
always again shook it up, and then took 
some hay in his hands, with which he would 
cover himself when he was snug in his 
barrel/ " 

Clara and Edith quite lamented that they 
could never make this ungracious little 
gorilla a tiny quilt for his barrel, but Mal- 
colm's mirth at the bare idea was quite 
embarrassing. 

" Ordinary monkeys/' said JMiss Harson, 
in answer to a leading question about 
" stories," "can be taught to do a great 
many wonderful things, yet many of the 
things which they do of their own accord 
are quite as wonderful. It is said that in 
their native woods there is a constant en- 
mity between them and the parrots so 
plentiful in South America, because of the 
birds' tails, which the monkeys insist upon 



A f, 

^^•i /Cm 




MOXKKYS AND PARROT. 



382 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

pulling. 'In general, monkeys appear to 
have a great objection to a tail being worn 
by any one but themselves, and never lose 
the opportunity of giving the tail of a com- 
panion a sly pull. The curly tail of a pig 
always appeared to excite great indignation 
in the mind of one monkey who lived on 
board the same vessel with it. As the pig 
ran about the deck the monkey, immediately 
taking umbrage at the pig venturing to wear 
a curly tail contrary to the fashion of his 
own, which was straight, used to run after 
him and hold on by the pig's tail, tugging 
at it with all his might to drag it straight, in 
uniformity with his own.' " 

"Well," said Clara, "I always thought 
monkeys were funny, but I didn't know that 
they w r ere quite so funny as that." 

"A gentleman owned one," said Miss 
Harson, " which was trained into habits of 
obedience by its former sailor-owner. It 
took hard raps to make poor Jocko come 
to terms sometimes, and no doubt he often 
wished himself safely back in his native 
forests. But, of all punishments, he hated 
most to be put into a barrel, and all his life 




JOCKO. 



384 DANGEROUS CHARACTERS. 

he used to give a barrel a wide berth when- 
ever he saw one. He enjoyed roaming 
about the fine grounds of the gentleman 
who became his owner, and was quite use- 
ful in the season of fruit and chestnuts. 
He could climb like a squirrel to the very 
topmost boughs, and pick off the ripe fruit 
as nicely as a boy. 

" Monkeys are a strange connecting-link/' 
continued Miss Harson, "in God's won- 
derful creation — above the lower animals 
in many ways, and yet not on a level 
with man. In studying all these living 
wonders we feel like exclaiming, in the 
words of the Psalmist, ' O, Lord, how mani- 
fold are thy works : in wisdom hast thou 
made them all/ M 



THE END. 



M 




far 



